Greg Fitzpatrick
Staff Writer
An organization that has strived to create a movement of leaders to help low-income children succeed in education has found one of their newest members. Keri Cecilia, a senior and Recreation Management major at Springfield College, was recently selected to the Teach for America program.
The program sends individuals to a city school for two years, where they teach young students to succeed in their education. Out of 40,000 people that apply for Teach for America, only 8,000 get accepted every year. That shows how valuable Cecilia could be to this program and the students she will be interacting with.
Cecilia will head to Baltimore, Md. in the fall where she will be a teacher at an elementary school. Cecilia is very excited to have this opportunity.
“It has been a dream of mine since sophomore year,” Cecilia said. “It has inspired me to do something I am passionate about.”
Cecilia has spent the last couple years as a literacy tutor for the Mason Square Head Start program in Springfield. Her experience there will only benefit her and her future students. Cecilia already has her goals planned out for when she makes that trip to Baltimore.
“I want to make an impact on the students. I am very excited to go to that school,” Cecilia said.
Cecilia is a Springfield College AmeriCorps member. AmeriCorps is an organization that provides individuals with unbelievable opportunities to reach out to communities. The AmeriCorps director here at Springfield College, Shannon Langone, is very happy with Cecilia’s success.
“Keri is a great student. She is able to really connect with kids and is always enthusiastic with what she does,” said Langone.
The application process was extremely rigorous. Langone explained that candidates need to meet every single requirement.
Cecilia knows she also couldn’t have done this without the help from her mentors here at Springfield College. Langone was a tremendous help for her every step of the way.
“Shannon is a great mentor to me. She really helped me through the whole process,” Cecilia said.
Teach for America is an excellent program that anyone should be proud of joining. With around 16 million American children facing poverty, this program helps them pursue education at the highest level possible. Students’ tests scores have greatly risen in the past decade thanks to Teach for America.
The Teach for America program never gives up aiding a child in need of a solid education.
Cecilia’s goal is to help as many students as possible. She wants them to have the same great experience that she has had.
“I believe that every child deserves the right to an excellent education,” Cecilia added.
While Cecilia is headed to Baltimore in the fall to teach, she also plans to complete her master’s degree at Johns Hopkins University.