Memphis
About Us
With increasing momentum behind the movement to ensure educational equity for all, Memphis is full of promise. To continue pushing our city forward, our goal is to attract more exceptional individuals to join our corps, develop their leadership skills, and support them in their diverse efforts to expand opportunities for all students. The magnitude and complexity of the change we seek will require sustained leadership both inside and outside of the current education system.
As we consider the educational landscape in Memphis today, we are firm in our belief that this city must be the place that fulfills Dr. King’s dreams of a day when we are “an oasis of freedom and justice;” a place that refuses to question whether some kids can achieve and others can’t, but instead demands that all do at the highest of levels.
Our Corps Members
TFA Memphis teachers are consistently named by the state of Tennessee as among the most effective using their state report card. We’ve had numerous teachers named teacher of the year in their schools, networks, or systems. Every day in the classrooms of our corps members we see students succeed at rates not thought possible and they continue to raise the bar for our own expectations of what is possible in a first- or second-year teacher’s classroom.
“"I remind my students that if we nurture our value of education and continue our thirst for knowledge, no matter what obstacles we face, we can and shall overcome. I want them to hold on to infinite hope.””
Teaching Certification and Graduate School
Since 2010, Teach For America Memphis has been a licensed Education Preparation Provider in Tennessee, and each of those years Tennessee has named us on of the top three licensure programs in the state. Through our certification program, our corps members earn their teaching license during their two years in our program, with no outside classes or certification work required.
Completing a master’s degree is not a required part of our program, but we do have partnerships with two graduate schools for those interested in pursuing an advanced degree. Those details are below.
Our region partners with Christian Brothers University (CBU) to provide an option for teachers going into their second year of teaching (or beyond) to pursue a Master in Education (MEd). Corps members are able to use their Teach For America experience to count towards course credits, making it possible to receive a master's degree in only one year of study and also reducing the overall tuition. Teach For America corps members and alumni receive nine hours of experiential credits and a 20% reduction in tuition. You can begin the program either in the summer between your first or second year, in the fall or spring of your second year, or during alumnihood. CBU now offers courses specifically for edTPA preparation within the MEd program.
For general information on the program, visit their website or contact graduateeducation@cbu.edu. You can also reach out to Dr. Cort Casey, Associate Professor at cort.casey@cbu.edu.
All Teach For America corps members (incoming, current, and alumni) have the opportunity to enroll in the highly- ranked Johns Hopkins University (JHU) School of Education’s online master’s program for Teach For America, leading to a Master of Science in Education (MSE) at a reduced cost. JHU accepts transfer credits. Their online format includes several support systems: Hopkins instructors to support educational pedagogy, real time discussions to ground the coursework in classroom context, and video-based platforms to support reflective practices – all aligned to Teach For America rubrics and expectations. You must currently be in the classroom in order to take advantage of this opportunity. JHU offers a course specifically for edTPA preparation during their program.
For more information, visit the JHU website or contact the admissions team at soe.tfa@jhu.edu or at 1-877-JHU-SOE1.
Our Alumni
There are more than 600 TFA alumni in Memphis. Our region offers of variety of leadership opportunities for alumni, as well as programming to connect alumni with each other and our corps members like our annual Alumni Brunch, Grits & GRIND.
Alumni Leaders
Craig Robinson, Achievement School District
Craig Robinson, Achievement School District
As an African American male teacher, Craig, a 2014 Memphis alum, had tremendous success with students in the classroom. Now as an administrator in the Achievement School District, Craig is focused on recruiting more BIPOC men to teach in elementary school classrooms and supporting them through their development as educators. Through a partnership with Man Up Teach, Craig has already recruited new teachers and hopes to recruit more in the future.
Brittany Thornton, JUICE Orange Mound
Brittany Thornton, JUICE Orange Mound
Britney, a 2014 Memphis alum, was raised in Orange Mound, America’s first community built by and for African Americans, and returned to her hometown as part of the Memphis corps. In 2016, Thornton founded JUICE Orange Mound with an idea to lead spare change drives and then put the money back into the community. Since then JUICE has invested thousands of dollars in Orange Mound and become a nexus for neighbors to build relationships and connections. Recently, JUICE began focusing on economic engagement, starting with the launch of a neighborhood small-business incubator.
Cartavius Black, Grizzlies Preparatory Charter School
Cartavius Black, Grizzlies Preparatory Charter School
Cartavius, a 2017 Memphis alum, joined Grizzlies Prep Charter School in 2021. He immediately jumped in and joined the charge to successfully lead his young male students, creating the first African American History class for middle schoolers. Since 2010, Grant has been committed to students as a teacher, coach, principal, and now Executive Director. Grant's leadership at Aurora has driven incredible results for students and families, including being named the 2020 Charter School of the Year by the Tennessee Charter School Center.
Memphis Alumni Awards and Fellowships
The Barbara Rosser Hyde Alumni Leadership Award is a $1,000 award honoring alumni in Memphis who is doing innovative work to disrupt systems of inequality in Memphis. The award will celebrate profound acts of leadership that ensure we are making progress toward One Day for the students and communities we serve and that our students are globally competitive, socially aware, and have access to opportunities that develop their leadership potential. Learn more about the 2021 award honorees.
Interested in school leadership? One of our key alumni leadership priorities includes fostering excellent leadership in schools. To accomplish this we are excited to offer the Aspiring School Leader Fellowship. The fellowship is a six-month program open to Teach For America alumni, with at least three years of teaching experience, who are interested in pursuing school leadership (dean, instructional coach, assistant principal, principal) in the next 1-3 years. The fellowship will be capped at 12 participants and will take the form of a cohort model.
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Our Leadership
Christopher Coleman, III
Executive Director
Teach For America Memphis
Chris has been with Teach For America for seven years and most recently served as vice president, program and development for the Memphis region. Chris brings over twenty years of professional experience in the education industry including experience in secondary, post-secondary, and adult education. He holds a B.S. in mathematics and M.Ed. from Southern Arkansas University and received his MBA in finance from the Fogelman School of Business at University of Memphis.
Chris is a proud native Memphian and is deeply rooted in the Memphis community. He has an undeniable passion, commitment, and vision toward every child in Memphis receiving an education that affords them a future full of possibilities.
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