Lots of people asked me why I decided to move to Mississippi. Why not to...Hawaii, for example, with my greatest friend Miss Anna Tucker (fellow TFA corps member)?? Did I draw the short stick?
No. I've wanted to move here for years. I've wanted to move here because at some point, some how, the education system failed certain people in our country and I want to be a part of the solution. These students are FULLY CAPABLE of the success the students from higher performing and more affluent schools experience, but because of what has been named the achievement gap, the resources are not available to them. Teach for America works to fill that gap, and Mississippi is one of its highest need areas in the country.
Here are some facts (I'm slowly learning these more and more as I go and I want to share):
-18-21% of students in Mississippi are retained at least once after kindergarten
-41% of students in Mississippi don't even graduate
-towns like West Bolivar, Mississippi are still living history as they are still segregated by race (though integration has been in effect for more than 30 years), with 99% of the public schools being black, and 99% of nearby private schools being white
-The achievement gap is largely due to the difference in vocabulary and literacy exposure between students coming from affluent homes and students coming from poverty. If this literacy gap isn't addressed within the first one or two years of a child's school career, their chances of succeeding and actually graduating (let alone going to college) drop drastically. The gap then continues to grow for the rest of their education career, because literacy is a key component of success in all types of learning.
So this is what we ask ourselves:
If not us, then WHO? If not now, then WHEN?
We're on a mission.
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