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鈥淲hy aren鈥檛 we being recruited as aggressively to commit two years to teach in urban and rural schools as we are being recruited to work two years on Wall Street?鈥� 

That was Teach For America founder Wendy Kopp remembers asking as a Princeton University senior 35 years ago. Rooted in her belief that one day, all children in this country should have the opportunity to attain an excellent education, she developed a big idea built on a bold bet: if we could compel a rising generation of high potential leaders to commit to teaching for at least two years, those young adults could drive strong student outcomes and would come out of the experience forever changed.聽

Even Wendy could not have imagined what that bet would set in motion. TFA鈥檚 network now includes more than 77,000 teachers, tutors and alumni. Today, 75% of alumni are working full time in education or mission-related fields. Some are still teaching. Others lead schools and school systems, shape public policy, build organizations and expand opportunities for students and communities.聽

Across five states, alumni Lily Laux, Victor Wakefield, Angelica Infante-Green, Levi Bachmeier and Jake Steel are serving as state chiefs of education, leading systems that help millions of students access a stronger public education.

In Atlanta, alumni Kaycee Brock, Esh茅 Collins, Bryce Berry, and Sunny Brown are serving at every level of elected government, helping shape the policies and decisions that affect children and families across their community.

Throughout Oklahoma City and Greater Tulsa, 145 corps members and alumni have been named Teachers of the Year since 2009, creating schools and classrooms where students feel known, challenged, and prepared to thrive.

Their paths differ, but they share an enduring commitment to students and educational opportunity rooted in their experience in the classroom.

And, I believe this bet is as relevant as ever today.

On October 2 and 3, nearly 8,000 people will come together in Las Vegas 鈥� a community we鈥檝e partnered with for two decades 鈥� to mark TFA’s 35th anniversary. We will celebrate where progress has been made with students and communities, reckon honestly with how much work remains and look ahead to what this moment asks of each of us.

Part of the answer is how to inspire even more high potential leaders, i.e. recent college graduates,  to commit to students and communities. They are coming of age in a world that looks very different from the one our first corps members entered in 1990. 

The world of work is shifting, as technology reshapes jobs and the skills people need to succeed. Our politics feel increasingly divided. And too many early-career adults are wondering whether the things previous generations took for granted, from a stable career to owning a home and building a family, will be possible for them. 

With so much at stake for this generation, they cannot simply inherit what comes next. They must have real agency in shaping it. And we need their ideas, energy and leadership alongside students and communities to meet the challenges ahead.

As TFA鈥檚 chief executive officer, I spend a lot of time talking with college students and recent graduates about what they want from their lives and careers. What I hear is worry about what the future holds for them, their communities and all of us. But I also hear a desire to help shape that future. They want work that matters. They want to be part of a community. And they want to know that what they do every day makes a difference to someone else.

The data backs this up. According to a released last month, 79% of Gen Z members say they want a job focused on helping people or making a positive difference in others’ lives. But only about half say they have found it.

And there is no shortage of consequential work to do. The latest PISA results underscore how much work remains: U.S. reading and math performance are now among the lowest levels recorded in more than two decades of the assessment. And academic achievement is only part of what we want for students; we also want them to develop the agency, connectedness and well-being to shape their own lives and communities. Improving outcomes for students will require all of us working together, including this rising generation.聽

That is why I believe joining Teach For America鈥檚 corps can be one of the most consequential first jobs for an ambitious young adult who recognizes the potential of every student and wants to serve and lead alongside communities. It combines the responsibility of teaching with ongoing development and a community of peers and alumni committed to expanding opportunity for students.

Few first jobs ask as much of someone early in their career as the corps experience does. From day one, teachers are responsible for helping a classroom of students learn and grow. They set goals, analyze information, make decisions and solve problems in real time and learn how to build trust and lead people with different strengths and needs. They do this all while developing alongside a community of peers, educators and partners committed to the same work.  

As AI reshapes the workplace, these distinctly human capabilities 鈥� including judgment, adaptability, relationship-building and leadership 鈥� will only become more important.

The corps experience also offers something increasingly rare: the opportunity to build deep relationships with students, families and communities over time. At a time of deep division and increasing isolation, that matters. Whether those experiences feel familiar or entirely new, working alongside communities can challenge assumptions, deepen understanding and expand an early-career adult鈥檚 sense of responsibility for the barriers students face and the opportunities they deserve. And that sense of responsibility extends across a lifetime of leadership.

This is why we are entering an era of acceleration at TFA. We need more college students and recent graduates who believe in the potential of every student to bring their talent and ambition to classrooms and communities and help accelerate outcomes for students. We need more leaders across our network taking on high-impact roles where they can expand opportunities for students. And we need to bring generations together, working across differences toward shared visions for what students and communities can achieve.

Thirty-five years later, this bet has brought generations together around a shared commitment to students and educational opportunity. And this moment calls us to double down on this next rising generation joining them. The challenges facing students are too consequential not to.

Disclosure: 社区黑料 is a media sponsor of the Teach For America’s 35th Anniversary Summit.

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