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Alumni of the Month - July |
Alumni of the Month Archives | |
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| Andrew HaLevi | ||
 (Andrew Synder HaLevi, 1990) |
Andrew HaLevi, the MTC Alumni of the Month, is part of the original Mississippi Teacher Corps Class of 1990. Andrew taught English and Reading at Heidelberg High School in the East Jasper School District. In 1994, Andrew taught for a second year in the Mississippi Delta. He taught English and Reading at Anguilla High School and Rolling Fork High School in the South Delta School District. Before joining MTC in 1990, Andrew graduated from Skidmore College, where he majored in English. Andrew also earned a Master's Degree in Education from Harvard University (this was before MTC added the MA component). |
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What are you doing now? What have you been doing since MTC? I am just returning from a sabbatical year in Israel where I taught in a small middle/high school right outside of Jerusalem. I am returning to the Charleston County School District in either a teaching or administrative job. I should know exactly what I am doing next week. I was part of the first cohort of MTC in 1990-1991, although I did a second year in 1994-1995. From 1991-1994 I attended a Ph.D program the University of Michigan (leaving after completing my coursework but with out doing a dissertation), and from 1995 until the present I have been in the Charleston County School District in Charleston, SC. What was the greatest reward of being a part of the Mississippi Teacher Corps? The greatest reward was working with the students. I am still in touch with several, and one is now in medical school at the University of Buffalo. Other rewards include being part of a program that changes not only the lives of students, but also the lives of teachers. It helped me understand what is necessary in order to effect change in schools. What was the biggest challenge? The challenge was mostly internal; adjusting to living in a rural area. I was prepared for the challenges in the classroom, but I was not as prepared for the feelings of isolation and my own poverty. I made $16,900 that year, and had to make students loans, rent, and a car loan. This was before e-mail and cell phones, so I felt cut off. How has MTC impacted your life? MTC gave me a framework for how to energize like-minded people around a problem. As a result of the MTC, I have not only had a successful career in education (I was named CCSD Teacher of the Year and runner up for SC State Teacher of the Year in 1999), but I have formed two organizations (the Charleston Teacher Alliance and Charleston Futures) that have changed the lives of students and teachers in Charleston. I don't think I would have this success without my two years teaching in Mississippi.
The Mississippi Teacher Corps is the most competitive teaching program in the country. The two-year program, designed for non-education majors, recruits college graduates to teach in the Mississippi Delta and offers a host of benefits, including teacher training and certification, a full scholarship for a master's degree in education, job placement that includes full pay and benefits and, most importantly, the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of students in one of the poorest areas of the country. |
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(Andrew HaLevi, 2007)