Seneca High School graduate Taylor McGlone will be working toward ending educational inequality by expanding the opportunities for students in low-income communities to learn.
The Shamong local was selected by the Teach For America program at the beginning of the month.
“I am extremely honored to have been chosen by TFA to carry forth their mission and exemplify their values. Growing up in Shamong, there was never a question about whether or not I would receive a top-notch education, McGlone said.
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 college graduates and professionals to make an initial two-year commitment to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the movement to end educational inequity.
In 2014–15, 10,600 corps members taught in 50 urban and rural regions across the country while more than 37,000 alumni worked across sectors to ensure that all children have access to an excellent education.
According to the organization, in our country’s lowest-income communities, just 6 percent of students will graduate college by the time they’re 25.
McGlone, a 2011 graduate of Seneca High School and a 2015 graduate of Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University, will teach in Phoenix.
But it wasn’t long ago that McGlone didn’t know what Teach For America was and teaching in general wasn’t even a consideration as a career.
“In all honesty, before hearing about Teach For America, I had never considered teaching!” McGlone said. “Even though I had such amazing teachers throughout my entire academic career, I somehow just overlooked the choice.”
She got involved with the program during her time at Arizona State.
McGlone initially joined a university initiative for social impact through community service and social entrepreneurship called, Changemaker Central.
She worked for Changemaker Central during her sophomore, junior and senior years. Part of Changemaker’s mission included working very closely with organizations such as the Peacecorps, Americorps and Teach For America.
“I first heard about TFA during my sophomore year, and as I became more familiar with the values of the organization, I fell in love with the effort to end educational inequity in America’s schools,” McGlone said.
However, to apply for TFA, all applicants were required to fill out a rigorous application.
Once submitted, they had to be chosen for a pre-interview, and then again for a final interview. The final interview process is a daylong process that involves teaching a lesson in front of other applicants and TFA representatives.
The entirety of the final interview process also includes submitting pre-interview coursework, in which a group discussion between the teacher and other applicants is observed by the same TFA representatives.
The day concludes with a 60-minute final interview with one of the TFA representatives who watched the sample lesson and observed McGlone’s participation in the group discussion that was based on a real-life teacher/administration scenario.
After the final interview, the TFA representatives from that day review the teacher’s information and performance with a selection committee. Collectively they decide whether or not they have been accepted.
“The two-week period between the final interview and hearing whether or not I got accepted was excruciating,” McGlone said.
However she also admitted that those two weeks really proved to her how much she cared about the values of the corps and wanted to be a part of the initiative.
Once accepted, the teacher can review their assigned region and content area that they submitted a preference for after the final interview.
Before beginning at their placement location, they must go through TFA Institute, an intensive five-week training course that involves teaching a summer school course.
McGlone was still going to Arizona State at the time and was living in Tempe preparing to graduate so that was her first placement selection.
“Once I heard that I was placed in high school chemistry in Phoenix, I was ecstatic,” McGlone said.
She was also a bit nervous and intimidated by the huge opportunity, but so far so good.
“Now that I’ve begun, I love my placement. South Phoenix has such character and my school possesses a very intimate and supportive staff,” McGlone said.
Working with Teach For America for NFL Yet Prep Academy in South Phoenix will be McGlone’s first, full-time job after working nearly all through college either in a part-time role or in an on-campus research lab.
“So far, I love it! Every single day is different and you truly learn from your students. Every morning I walk in to greet my 180 students with a sense of purpose, and new challenges arise every minute. Teaching forces you to plan out every little detail, and still allows room for you to think on your feet. It pushes you to be both creative and structured in ways you never thought possible. I love the relationship building part of it all — students won’t learn from someone they don’t like. It’s all about building up that mutual trust and respect while twisting in content,” McGlone said.
In her first year she wants to focus on giving her students as much as she possibly can through opening up her heart and mind to them and hoping they will do the same in return.
“I am here to teach them, but I know I will learn from them as well,” McGlone said.
McGlone values every day that she has with her students and reflects on the ultimate goal of closing the gap in our educational system each time she enters the classroom. She exemplifies the values of someone every parent would want educating their kids.
McGlone is still very young in terms of her career but is enjoying her experiences teaching for TFA thus far.
“As far as the future goes, I still have a lot to plan out in terms of a career. Right now, my focus is on my students, one day at a time!” McGlone said.
For more information on the Teach For America organization, visit www.teachforamerica.org.
