Lilly Foundation Boosts Teach For America
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowEli Lilly and Co. Foundation Inc. has awarded Teach For America-Indianapolis a two-year, $500,000 grant. The funding will support continuing efforts to recruit and train college graduates to teach in the city's highest-need public schools.
June 23, 2014
News Release
Indianapolis, Ind. — Teach For America announced that the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation granted Teach For America-Indianapolis $500,000 over two years to recruit, train and support top college graduates and professionals to teach in the city's highest-needs public schools, including Indianapolis Public Schools, turnaround schools, and local charter networks.
“We know that exceptional teachers and leaders are essential in creating consistently high-performing schools, and Teach For America is playing a vital role in building this talent pipeline in our community,” said Rob Smith, president of the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation. “Lilly is pleased to be TFA's partner and to support their important work.”
District and school leaders in Indianapolis are increasingly calling on Teach For America teachers and alumni to lead classrooms and schools. This year, five Teach For America teachers were honored as “Teacher of the Year” in their respective schools, three of whom were announced as top-ten finalists for the IPS “Teacher of the Year” award.
“Lilly's gift allows us to bring top talent to Indianapolis to serve in our highest-needs schools and subjects,” said Rebecca Thompson Boyle, Executive Director at Teach For America-Indianapolis. “This year approximately forty percent of our incoming teachers have STEM-related backgrounds and will be teaching in a related content area throughout the city.”
Since joining the Indianapolis community in 2008, Teach For America-Indianapolis has recruited more than 350 teachers to work in the city’s highest-needs K-12 schools, positively impacting more than 30,000 students. More than 300 Teach For America alumni currently live and work in Indianapolis, including 35 area school leaders in schools such as Harshman Magnet Middle School, Key Learning Community, and KIPP Indianapolis College Prep.
About Teach For America
Teach For America works in partnership with communities to expand educational opportunity for children facing the challenges of poverty. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding individuals of all academic disciplines to commit two years to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the movement to end educational inequity. Today, 11,000 corps members are teaching in 48 urban and rural regions across the country while 32,000 alumni work across sectors to ensure that all children have access to an excellent education. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Source: Teach For America