Teach for America expands to RI

Teach For America today announced that it will expand to Rhode Island, with plans to bring 30 top college graduates to teach in the state's highest-need schools - the Providence Public School District and at Democracy Prep Blackstone Valley charter school - for the 2010-11 school year.

Governor Donald Carcieri, Senator Jack Reed, Congressman James Langevin, Mayor David N. Cicilline, RI Commissioner of Education Deborah A. Gist, and other local supporters welcomed Teach For America to Rhode Island at today's announcement at The Rhode Island Foundation.

Teach for America is the national corps of top college students and professionals who commit to teach for two years in under-resourced schools and become lifelong leaders in the pursuit of educational equity.

Also at the announcement, Teach for America named Providence native Heather Tow-Yick the founding executive director of Teach For America-Rhode Island. A Brown University graduate, she began her tenure with Teach For America as a corps member, teaching in the South Bronx, New York. (She is pictured above fourth from the left.)

An article is today's Providence Journal states, "After the Rhode Island Foundation led a campaign to raise $2.7 million locally - a goal reached in just six weeks - Teach for America made a three-year commitment to Rhode Island... The fundraising campaign included donations from 30 wealthy Rhode Islanders plus $300,000 from the RI foundation and will pay for training and support for the new teachers over the three-year period, as well as the salaries of Tow-Yick and her staff."
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