The Teach For America Alumni Awards for Excellence in Teaching are presented annually to alumni teachers who are transforming students’ lives through extraordinary leadership and an unwavering belief in the potential for all children to succeed.
- Jennifer Corroy, Rio Grande Valley Corps ‘04
12th Grade English Language Arts and IB Diploma Program teacherIDEA Donna College Preparatory, Donna, TX
- Rob Garza, Rio Grande Valley Corps ’02
Audio Video Production InstructorMcAllen High School, McAllen, TX
- Robert Leichner, Charlotte Corps ‘04
High School MathWest Mecklenberg High School, Charlotte, NC
- Flora Lerenman, D.C. Region Corps ‘07
Early Childhood and Elementary Special EducationJohn Tyler Elementary School, Washington, D.C.
- Kellee Ransom, Kansas City Corps ‘08
3rd Grade TeacherUniversity Academy Charter School, Kansas City, MO
- Ashley Riggio, Greater New Orleans Corps ‘00
9th Grade English and LiteratureNoble Street College Prep, Chicago, IL
- Kenneth Robinson, D.C. Region Corps ‘93
4th Grade TeacherHendley Elementary School, Washington, D.C.
- Erika Sass, Los Angeles Corps ‘01
Elementary School TechnologyHiawatha Leadership Academy, Minneapolis, MN
See the complete list of 2013 Award Recipients and Finalists.
Selection Process
In 2012, Teach For America launched the first annual Alumni Awards for Excellence in Teaching to honor and learn from the exemplary work and commitment of our alumni teachers. Since that time, over 1,000 of our more than 8,000 alumni educators have been nominated for the award. This year, we are thrilled to announce eight recipients and two national finalists. Our recipients range widely in terms of experience and the settings in which they teach, but all demonstrate outstanding leadership, embody our core values, and exhibit an unwavering commitment to educational equity and excellence.
Award Vision & Objectives
In addition to providing our organization with a means of recognizing the exemplary work of our alumni teachers, the Teach For America Alumni Awards for Excellence in Teaching also allow us to learn from the best practices and approaches of our outstanding alumni teachers. Furthermore, the award platform will provide applicants with the opportunity to share their experiences and instructional practices widely within our organization in a way that can impact corps member and alumni teacher success. Finally, we believe that the lessons learned from our strongest alumni teachers will allow us to test, inform and refine what we currently believe to be the teacher strategies most predictive of student success.
Supporters
The Teach For America Alumni Awards for Excellence in Teaching have been very generously underwritten by the Seedlings Foundation, with the vision of recognizing and learning from our alumni teachers. In addition, the Amgen Foundation – Teach For America’s Founding National Math & Science Partner – will support one Award to an alumnus who has demonstrated significant impact and commitment to strengthening math and science education in underserved communities. We are grateful for the support of both of these organizations in allowing us to honor and learn from the work of our alumni in the classroom.
We are so excited about this group of educators and what their sustained impact on students’ lives can teach us and others in the field about what is possible in the classroom.
[Rob] transforms you into a leader and trains you to use your best qualities to be successful. He takes his job as an educator seriously and passes his knowledge to all his students. All my friends credit much of their happiness and success to him.
As a result of [Ms. Ransom's] success with students, teachers across the school began implementing the creative practices that Ms. Ransom used in her class. Ms. Ransom has become an inspiration to many; she is the definition of what an excellent teacher is in any school.
