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What Teach For America Brings to Classrooms

A Los Angeles principal shares the impact Teach For America teachers have in the classroom through empowering and enriching the lives of students and their families.

By The TFA Editorial Team

March 11, 2019

Leading Generational Change in Los Angeles

Jonathan Tiongco, a proud Angelino and the founding principal and CEO of Alliance Marine Innovation and Technology schools, discusses the difference Teach For America corps members and alumni make in his classrooms--and in his city.

My name is Jonathan Tiongco. I'm the proud founding principal and CEO of Alliance Marine Innovation and Technology, six through twelve complex, Alliance MIT, for short.

TFA corps members and alums represent more than 50% of our staff. They're not just teaching math, or teaching science, or teaching any core subject. They know that they're teaching children, empowering and enriching the lives of our families. So when teachers, particularly our teachers from TFA come in with a clear why it makes the work so much stronger, and I really believe that having that background from the very beginning really makes an impact on our schools.

I'm a proud Angelino. My mom, my grandmother - they worked for Los Angeles Unified. I grew up in the city. This is the city that I absolutely love and I know that the best way to impact and support a city is through strong education. TFA provides the corps members the support, the professional development -- all of the essentials that are needed to run a successful school. The level of impact, the number of schools, the number of students, the number of families that they're now impacting I believe is going to make generational change for our city.