At commencement proceedings for Washington University in St. Louis on Friday, Teach for America founder Wendy Kopp urged graduates to take on global issues and to use their fresh perspective on the world to find new solutions to the problems facing their generation. Her speech highlighted the success of the Teach for America program as an example of how radical ideas from young people can make a lasting impact on the world.

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PD toolbar!Teach for America grew out of an idea Kopp proposed in her senior thesis, and in only a few years it become one of the biggest influences on inner city schools nationwide. Teach for America places recent graduates of top colleges and universities in under-resourced schools in several regions across the country. The program's belief that a background in education is not necessary to teach has been met with criticism, but Kopp argued that TFA efforts to bridge the education gap in the country prove the capabilities and skills of young people.

Washington University has produced many Teach for America participants in recent years; of the 2,642 members of the 2009 Wash. U. graduating class, 25 will be joining Teach for America next year. Kopp used the stories of those alumni to make the case for the program's benefit. Though the overall tone of the address was of an advertising pitch for the program, the speech focused on developing graduates' sense of their own capabilities.

"I wanted to talk with you this morning. About your choices at this stage of your lives --- about where you decide to channel your energy as you progress over the coming two or three years," said Kopp. She also cited her own experience. Defying feedback from professors and professionals who suggested she would never be able to garner enough money or interest to succeed, TFA is an example of what can be accomplished when one refuses to fail. "People wanted to know how I started Teach for America straight out of college, and honestly, my greatest asset was my inexperience. When I declared in my thesis that I would try to create this corps myself, my thesis adviser pronounced me 'deranged,' she said. "My greatest asset was that I did not understand what was impossible."

Since Teach for America began in 2000, more than 20,000 teachers have participated. It has had an impact on more than three million students. The speech, which garnered mixed reviews from students looking to hear a more well-known speaker giving a speech that was less of an advertisement, comes as President Obama is making his own case for a national return to service, especially among young people. Kopp quoted detailed statistics about the St. Louis public school system to demonstrate the need for Teach for America and other service programs like it. Kopp's message played into Obama's, even extending it by calling on graduates to find their own innovative ways of giving back to the community. She stressed that recent graduates' time, dedication and naiveté all empower them to find unexplored solutions to the pressing problems facing the world.


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