Mississippi Delta

Teach For America • Mississippi Delta is playing a critical role in improving schools and communities. This year, a corps of nearly 360 of the nation’s top recent college graduates is working in underserved schools across the Delta to ensure that students facing the challenges of poverty are given the educational opportunities they deserve. Our alumni are leaders in the classroom, in education more broadly, and across all sectors. Together, they are making educational equity a reality in the Delta. Learn about living and teaching in the Mississippi Delta.

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Corps Impact

Alumni Impact

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Regional Supporters

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Corps Impact

During the 2009-10 school year, nearly 360 corps members are directly impacting the lives of more than 28,000 students in the Mississippi Delta. Alexandra Ball is one example of the tremendous difference our corps members are making.

Alexandra Ball (Mississippi Delta Corps '07) Undergraduate Institution: Eastern Michigan University Major: African-American Studies

When the year began, Alexandra Ball (Corps ‘07) found that only 20 percent of her seventh grade math students were performing at grade level. Undeterred, she established a lofty class goal. She was determined to see 80 percent of her students pass all unit tests and perform at grade level. When her students struggled, Alex used figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and George Washington Carver as inspirational role models. By year’s end, not only had all of her students mastered all seventh grade skills, but 24 of them performed high enough to be placed in an Algebra I class as eighth graders. Every day, corps members like Alex are reaching students in our region and working relentlessly to ensure that they excel to their full potential.

Principal Satisfaction

• 97 percent of recently-surveyed principals (in schools with Teach For America corps members) reported that they would hire another Teach For America teacher.
• 93 percent of principals surveyed regard Teach For America teachers as effective as, if not more effective than, other beginning teachers in terms of overall performance and impact on student achievement.*
  

*"Teach For America 2009 National Principal Survey,” Policy Studies Associates, July 2009.

Impact on Student Achievement

A growing body of research shows that corps members have a positive impact on their students' achievement. Read more about our impact.

Student Profile

• Students served who are eligible for free/reduced lunch: 89%
• Students served who are African-American and/or Latino: 86%

Mississippi Delta : Corps Member Placement

Assignment	% of Corps
Pre-K, Kindergarten	10%
Elementary, Lower (1-2)	8%

Elementary, Upper (3-5)	25%
Secondary Math	13%
Secondary English	13%
Secondary Science	15%
Secondary Social Studies	10%
Secondary Other	8%
Special Education	10%

*Percentages are rounded and do not add up to 100 percent; corps members who teach bilingual, ESL, or special education are also accounted for in the grade-level/subject placement percentages

Characteristics of the 2009 Corps

Corps Profile
Average GPA: 3.6
Average SAT: 1344
Held leadership roles on campus: 89%
People of color: 30%

*Percentage of senior classes who applied to Teach For America.

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Alumni Impact

Fostering Alumni Leadership for Systemic Change
As the number of corps members grows, so does our alumni base. By 2010, we will have over 100 Teach For America · Mississippi Delta alumni pursuing professional careers and impacting educational reform from every sector.

• Nationally, more than 60 percent of corps members continue to work in education,
  including more than 360 who are school leaders.
• 93 percent of all alumni report they are supporting Teach For America’s mission
  through their career, volunteer activity or graduate study.
  
  

Tim Schuringa (Mississippi Delta Corps '04) Undergraduate Institution: Calvin College Major: English

Tim Schuringa taught high school English in Lee County, Arkansas, where he was named Teacher of the Year in 2006. Tim then joined Southern Financial Partners, a community development organization. As leader of educational and economic development initiatives, Tim has helped develop over $3.2 million in initiatives for local schools and nonprofits. He is also board president and a founding member of the local Boys & Girls Club, which earned national recognition for its rapid growth and after-school program. Like Tim, 93 percent of alumni report that they continue to support Teach For America’s mission through their career, philanthropy, volunteer work, or graduate study.

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Regional Supporters

We are grateful to have many supporters who generously contribute to our movement in the Mississippi Delta. The foundations, corporations and individuals listed below have made it possible for Teach For America to continue to recruit, select, train, and support teachers who are working to eliminate educational inequity in our city.

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Contact

To support Teach For America • Mississippi Delta with a gift or to request additional information about our impact or finances, please contact:

Teach For America • Mississippi Delta
Ron Nurnberg, Executive Director
Jenn Mohead, Development Manager
299 S. 9th St., Ste 212
Oxford, MS 38655
p 662.234.6206, f 662.234.6404 c 662.402.2203
ron.nurnberg@teachforamerica.org
jenn.mohead@teachforamerica.org
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Executive Director

Ron Nurnberg has presided over the expansion of the Delta corps from 32 corps members in 1996 to 156 in the 2006-2007 school year. Prior to joining Teach For America staff in the spring of 1996, Ron completed a master's degree in Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi. He also served as Executive Director of Main Street Helena, Project Coordinator for the Center of Southern Culture in Oxford and Vicksburg, Assistant Director of Central College's American Program at Trinity College in Carmarthen, Wales, and operated a highly successful pub and restaurant business in St. Louis. His undergraduate degree is in Business Administration and Interpersonal Communications.

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