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Four Lafayette seniors have been accepted to participate in the Teach For America program next year.
Danielle Bero ’07(Astoria, N.Y.), Miranda Dolan ’07 (Pitman, N.J.), Jillian Gaeta ’07 (Middletown, N.J.), and Jacqueline Golden ’07 (Latham, N.Y.) were all accepted into Teach For America, a program in which college graduates commit for two years to teach in urban and rural public schools in the nation’s lowest-income communities and become lifelong leaders for expanding educational opportunity.
As program coordinator for the Landis Community Outreach Center’s Kids in the Community (KIC) program, Bero, who created her own major of creative mediums and social justice, is no stranger to volunteering.
“I worked with kids throughout high school and college – through summer camps, after-school programs, and community arts programs. I’ve always known that I wanted to help kids get involved and learn about their future education options,” she says. “Coming from an area in New York City where I have seen many kids who didn’t or couldn’t pursue education after, or even during, high school, I have been able to experience first-hand the importance of education. I want to be able to instill that drive, motivation, and creativity in future generations.”
Through her work with the Alternative School Break program, Gaeta, an international affairs and French double major, believes in a responsibility for community service.
“Many students in America do not receive the education necessary to succeed in life,” she says. “My education and my teachers helped shape my thoughts and improved my life; I want to give that to another child. By joining Teach For America, I will be a part of a movement of young people who are committed to making a difference in our education system. It’s a very exciting opportunity.”
An anthropology and sociology major, Dolan sees Teach For America as a continuation of her community service work at Lafayette.
“Community service is important to me because I see how hard it is to escape poverty in our society. I feel I need to help do something about it,” says Dolan. “Through my involvement with the Landis Center, I have seen success come from the support and resources supplied for low-income children and teens. I believe that Teach For America is the best way for me to have an impact on society and address the inequalities of our nation.”
Golden, who is a biology major, believes it is important for people to utilize the skills they have learned to help improve the quality of life in their community.
“Teach For America seeks to close the achievement gap for students in low-income areas,” says Golden. “This was very powerful to me because I feel that education has been such an important part of my life, however not all children in our country are afforded the same quality of education. I believe that a teacher has an immense impact on the educational experience of a child and this was a role I wanted to take on.”
Bero and Gaeta will teach in New York City, while Dolan will teach in New Haven, Conn. Golden has been assigned to teach in Miami, Fla., but has not yet accepted the position. She is also considering attending medical school.
After her Teach for America experience, Bero aspires to start a Writing Organization Reaching Dynamic Students (W.O.R.D.S.) after-school program in New York City and Namibia, Africa. She is also interested in teaching in Indonesia and doing service work in Africa. Her experience with Teach For America will enable her to complete a master’s degree in education.
Bero traveled to Namibia and South Africa last spring, where she mentored and taught children in an informal settlement. This winter, she spent three weeks in Guatemala through one of Lafayette’s distinctive interim-abroad courses. She is co-founder of W.O.R.D.S. and a member of Questioning Established Sexual Taboos, Students for Social Justice, Africans Creating African Consciousness and Interest Abroad, and Association for Black Collegians. In addition to KIC, she is involved with the Landis Center’s Teen Moms program and served as an assistant director this past summer for its Pre-Orientation Service Program. She also is leading Teens in the Community at Easton’s new teen center. She has participated in United Against Hate week, Take Back the Night, Consciousness Conference, Lights on After-school, Hunger and Homelessness week, Midnight Run, and anti-violence mural painting in Philadelphia.
Dolan is program coordinator of the Teen Moms program and a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. She is involved with Meals at Third Street, Firth Youth Center, Relay for Life, and Dance Marathon. Dolan, along with Deborah Byrd, associate professor of English, Rachel Gallagher ’07 (Allentown, Pa.), and several Easton community members, presented a workshop on student involvement in the community at the National Women’s Studies Association Conference held in Oakland, Calif., this past summer.
Gaeta has performed EXCEL Scholars research with Neil Engelhart, assistant professor of government and law, on the effectiveness of international treaties. She also is completing an honors thesis on the genocide in Darfur this year.Last year, Gaeta served an alumni externship at Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign office. Gaeta founded Holla Back and Lafayette’s chapter of Amnesty International. She is on the Trustee committee for educational policy and the ad hoc committee for investment policy. She is president of Alternative School Break and a member of Student Government, Students for Social Justice, Mock Trial, and Newman Association.
Through the Landis Center, Golden volunteers with Inglés Número Uno, a tutoring program for Spanish-speaking children, and Adopt a Grandparent. She is a past recipient of the Service Above Self Award, given to students who best exemplify the qualities of caring and concern for others in service activities. She served two years as vice president on the Alternative School Break Executive Board and went on three ASB trips to West Virgina, Honduras, and New Mexico. She also is a teaching assistant for Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy, a head resident advisor, and a member of Alpha Phi sorority.
In 1990, 500 men and women began teaching in six low-income communities across the country. Since then, nearly 17,000 individuals have joined, and Teach For America has become the nation’s largest provider of teachers for low-income communities. The organization has been recognized for building a pipeline of leaders committed to educational equity and excellence.