To show appreciation to those dedicated to the education of all children in the Rio Grande Valley, the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District joined forces with Valley Baptist Health System President and CEO Manny Vela during Teach For America Week.
Vela served as a guest teacher at Lee Means Elementary School on March 20. Vela along with KRGV General Manager John Kittleman and Michelle Villarreal, Legislative Director for Rep. Oscar Longoria (35th District) served as guest teachers at schools across the RGV.
An annual event since 1997, Teach For America Week draws community leaders nationwide to support educational excellence for all children. These volunteers visit the classrooms of Teach For America teachers, also known as corps members, and teach lessons based on their experiences in business, politics, and beyond.
Teach For America is the national corps of top recent college graduates who commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in the movement to expand educational opportunity.
This year in the RGV, 140 Teach For America corps members are reaching some 29,000 students in underserved schools while another 150 alumni are working from every sector to level the playing field for students and families in low-income communities.
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, more than 10,000 corps members are teaching in 46 urban and rural regions across the country, while nearly 28,000 alumni work across sectors to ensure that all children have access to an excellent education.
