Teach for America Selects 22 Recruits from UK

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 14, 2010) − Twenty-two graduates and students from the University of Kentucky have chosen to serve others in the sometimes less attractive classrooms of America's inner cities and rural communities. The UK group has been selected for Teach for America, a national program in which outstanding college graduates commit to teach for two years in disadvantaged urban and rural public schools.

Teach for America is known for placing its recruits in the nation's lowest income communities, both rural and urban, in an effort to close the achievement gap between economically advantaged and disadvantaged children.

UK alumni and students selected for Teach for America include:
 

- Lamar Allen, of Louisville, Ky., a 2010 graduate with a bachelor's degree in community communications and leadership development, who will serve in Nashville, Tenn.;
- Meredith Barton, of Durham, N.C., a 2010 graduate with a bachelor's degree in psychology, who will serve in New Orleans, La.;
- Jamyle Cannon, of Lexington, a 2010 graduate with a bachelor's degree in social work, who will serve in Phoenix, Ariz.;
- Andy Cole, of Somerset, Ky., a 2010 graduate with a bachelor's degree in biology, who will serve in Nashville;
- Shaun Denney, of Somerset, a 2010 graduate with a bachelor's degree in accounting, who will serve in Washington, D.C.;
- Hillary Dodd, of Nashville, a 2010 graduate with a bachelor's degree in Spanish, who will serve in Houston, Texas;
- Wesley Downing, of Maysville, Ky., a 2010 graduate with a bachelor's degree in elementary education, who will serve in Jacksonville, Fla.;
- Juan Pablo Espinosa, of Quito, Ecuador, a 2009 graduate with a bachelor's degree in political science, who will serve in the South Louisiana region;
- Will Fuller, of Lexington, a 2007 graduate with a bachelor's degree in history, who will serve in Nashville;
- Kathryne Goldey, of Winchester, Ky., a 2010 graduate with a bachelor's degree in international studies, who will serve in eastern North Carolina;
- Rachel Hobson, of Columbus, Ohio, a 2009 graduate with bachelor's degrees in Spanish and sociology, who will serve in New Orleans;
- Reese Locken, of Lexington, a 2010 graduate with bachelor's degrees in Spanish and Russian studies, who will serve in the Mid-Atlantic region in Camden, N.J.; 
- Meghan McCoun, of Salisbury, Md., a 2010 graduate with a bachelor's degree in Spanish, who will serve in Charlotte, N.C.;
- Allison Moore, of Lexington, a 2010 graduate with a bachelor's degree in sociology and French, who will serve in Indianapolis, Ind.;
- Linda Moorhead, of Edgewood, Ky., a 2010 graduate with a bachelor's degree in secondary mathematics education, who will serve in Baltimore, Md.;
- Laura Newton, of Bowling Green, Ky., a 2010 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in secondary English education, who will serve in Charlotte;
- Shea Sheppard, of Georgetown, Ky., a 2009 graduate with a bachelor's degree in political science, who will serve in Phoenix;
- Jordan Stivers, of Bowling Green, a senior majoring in philosophy and political science, who will serve in New Orleans;
- Slade Thompson, of Lexington, a 2010 graduate with a bachelor's degree in chemistry, who will serve in Chicago, Ill.;
- Rebekah Wallace, of Madisonville, Ky., a 2010 graduate with a bachelor's degree in finance, who will serve in Phoenix;
- Colin Wheeler, of Bowling Green, a 2010 graduate with a bachelor's degree in political science, who will serve in the Mississippi Delta region; and
- Mary Catherine Wright, of Jeffersonville, Ind., a 2010 graduate with a bachelor's degree in political science, who will serve in Indianapolis.

The 2010 Teach for America corps members will be placed in teaching positions at elementary or secondary schools in one of 39 urban and rural regions across the country served by the program.

Teach for America recruited students at more than 350 college campuses and received approximately 46,000 applications in 2010. The organization selected 4,500 corps members. Students recruited by the highly selective program have an average grade point average of 3.6, and 89 percent of them have held leadership positions on campus.

Teach for America participants receive a first-year teacher's salary and are awarded a sum of $4,725 for each year of participation. The award can be applied to loans or the pursuit of further education.