Why did you join MTC?

Teaching provided a way for me to combine my passion for working with children and my love of math. After performing a little research, (as well as being rejected from Teach for America) I discovered that MTC offered the best deal.  One of the biggest attractions for me, besides the masters, was the opportunity to work with a small group of intelligent people with the similar goals and passions. Also, I had never been to Mississippi, so why not?

What is the biggest challenge of teaching the Delta?

The biggest challenge of teaching in the Delta is motivating the students to learn. They’ve grown up in a culture that doesn’t value education.  I have a hard time showing the students that there are bigger and better things beyond Belzoni and Mississippi and you need a solid education to get there.

You can provide all the necessary things for a student to be successful, but they have to make that decision.  It’s so frustrating to watch someone make the wrong decision, when you know they have the potential to do more.

What is the biggest reward?

When I reach a student.  Watching the light turn on in a student’s head and knowing you had a part in it, is the best feeling in the world.  Whether it’s the fact that they finally understand fractions, or they realize that you have to put in a little effort to get things done.

The Mississippi Teacher Corps is the most competitive alternate-route teaching program in the country. It is a two-year program that recruits recent college graduates to teach in critical-shortage areas in the Mississippi Delta, in exchange for a full scholarship for a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Mississippi. The program was founded in 1989 by Amy Gutman, a Harvard University graduate student, and Dr. Andy Mullins, then Special Assistant to the State Superintendent of Education. Since 1989 more than 350 participants, reaching an estimated 70,000 students, have taught in critical-needs school districts as part of the Mississippi Teacher Corps.