Delta new site of Teach for America institute

Published 11:33 pm Tuesday, July 14, 2009

JACKSON (AP) — The Mississippi Delta, a region plagued by high poverty and illiteracy rates, will soon become the site of a Teach For America training institute that will prepare about 500 educators for classrooms across the country.

The institute will be housed at Delta State University in Cleveland, where up to 650 new teachers will be placed in local school districts for summer programs as part of the training, said Ron Nurnberg, executive director of Teach For America in the Mississippi Delta.

‘‘The superintendents were very eager to have this,’’ Nurnberg said. ‘‘We will house all of our folks at Delta State. It came down to a choice between Denver and the Delta.’’

The institute in Cleveland will be Teach For America’s first rural site, said spokeswoman Kerci Marcello Stroud. Other training institutes are located in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia and Phoenix.

Teach For America’s recent college graduates agree to work for two years in rural or urban public schools. The organization said the institute prepares the graduates to be effective teachers while working under the supervision of veteran educators and Teach For America staff.

The training involves clinics and interactive courses designed to build skills that can be applied in classrooms.

More than 500 teachers will train at DSU.

The organization has long relationship with the Delta as its teachers have been sent into underperforming public schools in the region since 1991.

A state-commissioned report released last month said almost 18 percent of the Mississippi Delta’s adult population has less than a ninth-grade education. The area’s unemployment rate ranges around 10 percent.

Mississippi Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds said Teach For America ‘‘is a vital part’’ of the state’s effort to give students a quality education. The organization will triple the number of new teachers in the area when 275 corps members arrive this month.

‘‘This rigorous summer program will accelerate our students’ learning and growth while preparing corps members for the challenges they will face as teachers in schools across the country,’’ Bounds said in the release.