Teacher Education Program
Students
Who Is TEP?
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TEP students are thinkers, motivators, and doers. They have excelled in academics and have contributed to their communities. TEP candidates represent a diverse cross-section of perspectives, ages, experiences, ethnicities, and background. They have lived and worked as engineers, lawyers, teachers, doctors, community activists, military personnel, Peace Corps volunteers, high-tech personnel, tutors, and coaches. They are committed to producing real change in our public schools, by utilizing their efforts and expertise and giving back through education.
Maurice Telesford, TAC '09, High School Chemistry
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Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Maurice found that since high school, he's always enjoyed teaching. Whether it was giving swim lessons at a local pool, or tutoring other students during study hall, he's always been comfortable with helping people learn. When he got to college and began studying chemical engineering, he learned that a lot of underrepresented minorities did not complete their engineering degrees. This fact lit a fire within him that led him to feel a deep responsibility for addressing this issue. In the following years, after exploring possible solutions, he decided that he wanted to become a high school teacher to try to prepare more students for careers in engineering. |
Alicia Rosenberg, TAC '09, High School History
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Alicia had a transformative experience while teaching high school students from Atlanta, GA. The students were in Washington, DC to learn how to be active citizens by creating public policy initiatives to improve their neighborhoods. The week culminated in an expo where students shared their policy initiatives, and demonstrated the citizenship and leadership skills they had acquired. The students confidently articulated their ideas through speeches and writing, and they worked together to rally behind their vision. It was at this point that Alicia saw education, especially education that provides authentic learning opportunities, as a source of empowerment for youth. The week-long process that the students from Atlanta went through gave them the tools they needed to enact change in society, and provided them with skills that would be useful in their future academic and personal endeavors. |
Suzannah Holsenbeck, TAC '09, High School English
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Shortly after graduating from Yale University, Suzannah Holsenbeck joined Teach For America and taught special education at a high school on the Rosebud Sioux Lakota Reservation in South Dakota. The students she taught were often the first in their families to reach high school. Teaching, Suzannah has noted, was what always got her out of bed in the morning, looking forward to greeting her students and helping them reach high academic goals. Suzannah also coached the school’s speech team, and she brought some of the first American Indian students in twenty years to compete in the South Dakota State Finals. |
