Teach For America and Lilly Launch Program to Match Lilly Employees with Teachers in Underserved Public Schools
29 October 2008 - 1:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Lilly Advocates Will Help Teach For America Teachers Build
Community Connections in Support of Student Achievement
INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Teach For America
and Eli Lilly and Company today launched a program to support the
efforts of new teachers working in the city's low-income
communities. Lilly employees will pair with Teach For America
teachers to help them get acclimated to the city and to foster
networking opportunities. The Lilly employee advocates and Teach
For America teachers will meet for the first time at a matching
event tonight at Lilly corporate headquarters. Teach For America is
the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who
commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and
become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. Teach
For America expanded to Indianapolis this fall, bringing 46
dedicated young teachers to work in Indianapolis Public Schools.
Each of these corps members was matched with a Lilly employee based
on personal profiles submitted online. The Lilly advocacy efforts
will supplement the ongoing professional development and support
that corps members receive from Teach For America. "We're grateful
to Lilly and its employees for their commitment to support our
teachers as they work relentlessly to make sure students reach
their full academic potential," said Jason Kloth, executive
director of Teach For America in Indianapolis. "This is an
especially valued partnership as we establish roots in the
community." More than half of the Indianapolis charter corps grew
up or attended school in Indiana. Nationally, 3,700 top college
graduates joined Teach For America's 2008 corps. They were selected
for their strong academic achievement and leadership experience
from nearly 25,000 applicants, including 14 percent of graduating
seniors at DePauw University, 11 percent at Morehouse College and
Yale University, and 9 percent at the University of Notre Dame and
Harvard University. A growing body of rigorous research on Teach
For America demonstrates the effectiveness of corps members in the
classroom. A study released this year by the Urban Institute found
that Teach For America corps members have a positive impact on
student achievement relative to other teachers, including those who
are fully certified in their subject areas. Teach For America's
impact extends to the long-term engagement of its alumni in
education and public service. Some two-thirds of Teach For America
alumni are still working or studying full-time in education,
including 4,000 classroom teachers and more than 360 school
leaders. In addition, 15 Teach For Alumni serve as elected
officials and more than 500 work on Capitol Hill or in government
or policy. "As Lilly encourages employee volunteerism, we have
chosen to place a significant emphasis on educational outreach that
drives measurable results," said Robert Smith, president of the
Lilly Foundation. "We are excited about this new collaboration with
Teach For America and look forward to sharing the time and talents
of our Lilly employees to make this outstanding program even
better." Speakers at tonight's event will include Robert Smith,
Derica Rice, Lilly's Senior Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer, and Teach For America corps member Stephanie Parido, an
honors graduate of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana
University who teaches math at Willard J. Gambold Middle School.
About Teach For America Teach For America is the national corps of
outstanding recent college graduates who commit two years to teach
in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in
expanding educational opportunity. This year, 6,200 corps members
are teaching in over 1,600 schools in 29 regions across the country
while more than 14,000 Teach For America alumni continue working
from inside and outside the field of education for the fundamental
changes necessary to ensure educational excellence and equity. For
more information, visit http://www.teachforamerica.org/. About
Lilly Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing
a growing portfolio of first-in-class and best-in-class
pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its
own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent
scientific organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind.,
Lilly provides answers -- through medicines and information -- for
some of the world's most urgent medical needs. Additional
information about Lilly is available at http://www.lilly.com/.
DATASOURCE: Eli Lilly and Company CONTACT: Rhonda Stewart, Teach
For America, +1-202-552-2400, ; or Carla Cox, Eli Lilly and
Company, +1-317-651-4017, Web site: http://www.teachforamerica.org/
http://www.lilly.com/
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