Teach for America organizer talks on 'urgency' of mission

by jessica Binderby jessica BinderThe Daily Pennsylvanian However, Kopp was able to overcome the uncertainty by coming up with an idea for a thesis that simultaneously eliminated her other problem of finding a job. Her idea was Teach for America -- a program that places outstanding recent college graduates in some of the nation's most under-resourced schools -- which has since recruited over 5,000 teachers. Last night, Kopp addressed an audience of about 50 people in Logan Hall about her experiences with Teach for America and the program's history. The talk was the second in the three Women in Leadership Series lectures that have been scheduled for this semester. When Kopp was a Public Policy major at Princeton University, one of her major interests was the disparity in educational quality between low-income and high-income areas. After searching for a job that she later realized didn't exist, and realizing other seniors were in the same position, Kopp asked herself one question: "Why doesn't our country recruit these individuals and start a teaching corps?" And thus, she had an idea for her thesis, as well as a new organization. "I became completely obsessed with the idea," Kopp said. "The plan was that this would start immediately. It needed be on a large scale. There needed to be a sense of urgency and of national importance." That first year, TFA drew 2,500 applications for 500 positions. Kopp was also eventually able to solicit $2.5 million from major U.S. corporations to get the program started. That's where the hard work began. "It was easy to galvanize, to magnetize, so many people at the beginning," Kopp said. "After two to three years, we had to sustain that momentum." However, TFA's recruits persevered, and over the last 10 years, the organization has placed over 5,000 people in schools in urban and rural areas. According to Kopp, there are three major lessons she learned from what she has done. First, she stressed that students should pursue their dreams because anything is possible. Secondly, she claimed that the environment in which people grow up can largely determine the educational opportunities they will have. And finally, Kopp emphasized that it is absolutely possible to level the playing field between students in low-income and high-income areas. Despite the success TFA has had so far, there are still problems that Kopp faces as a woman. One of the main difficulties is juggling her personal life and her work. "I don't think my husband would say that I have [struck a balance]," Kopp said. "I'm having a child in a couple of months and that will certainly change things. But I think that everyone strikes their own balance."