As Franklin & Marshall students catch their breath during fall break, several May graduates are experiencing the other side of the classroom. 

Teach for America (TFA) invited 13 members of F&M’s Class of 2024 into the Teacher Corps program. Eight accepted: Reece Chang, Roxana Calder, Kevin Garcia, Pamela Hernandez, Kylie Loughney, Cameron Prunier, Andre Scott and Maggie Sjostedt.

That matches the 13 F&M offers in 2023; in 2022, TFA extended 16 offers to Diplomats. These cohorts continue a longstanding partnership; more than 100 F&M alumni have participated in TFA since its inception in 1990.

Corps members teach full time for at least two years in underserved schools. Members are selected, trained and supported by TFA, hired by a local school or district, paid the same salary and benefits as other new teachers, and certified to teach while in the Teacher Corps.

Pamela Hernandez ’24, shown at an F&M Choomies dance practice, was a Teach for America Ignite Fellow before joining the Teacher Corps. (Photo by Deb Grove)

“I want to help other students the same way [mentors] helped me,” said Hernandez, who currently teaches middle school for the corps in New York City. 

“Growing up in a low-income, immigrant-dominated school district and then moving on to a predominantly white institution opened my eyes to the disparity in the educational system and how much zip codes affect a student's education,” said Hernandez, of Dallas. 

Hernandez got a jump start on TFA as a fall 2023 Teach For America Ignite Fellow. 

“The Ignite Fellowship offered an incredible opportunity to make a meaningful impact in students' lives while furthering my professional growth,” Hernandez said. 

Ignite fellows tutor two to four students, receive ongoing training and development from TFA and veteran educators, and receive a stipend upon successful completion of the fellowship.

Teacher Corps members come from a wide range of academic majors and career backgrounds. This year, 48% identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), 59% come from low-income backgrounds, 66% joined the corps as recent grads and 29% joined as career changers. 

Roxana Calder ’24 is F&M’s first recipient of the Franklin Fellowship as she completes her Teach for America placement in Philadelphia. (Photo by Deb Grove)

“A large number of incoming F&M corps members will be supporting the Greater Philadelphia region especially,” said Maya Brown, TFA manager of recruitment.

Since the University of Pennsylvania is a TFA certification partner, Corps members in the Philadelphia region not only receive funding in addition to their salary, but also have the opportunity to participate in the Franklin Fellowship urban teaching residency to support their enrollment in the Penn Graduate School of Education (GSE) programs, Brown added. 

Calder, the Class of 2024 Williamson Medalist, is F&M’s first recipient of the Franklin Fellowship as she completes her TFA placement in Philadelphia.

“I grew up in the city of Philadelphia,” Calder said. “I am under no illusion that the systemic and historical faults of school districts can be fixed by one teacher or one moment, but it’s the place to start. I want to join Teach for America to bring my love of learning to classrooms.”

Below, meet a few of the newest TFA corps members and hear from F&M alums who credit TFA as a springboard for finding careers they are passionate about.

Pamela Hernandez ’24

Hernandez is currently a middle school teacher in New York City for Teach for America. She first connected with TFA as a fall 2023 Ignite Fellow. 

• Current location: New York City
• Double major: Psychology and Spanish
• Minor: Chinese

What inspired you to apply for Teach for America? 

Growing up in a low-income, immigrant-dominated school district [in Dallas] and then moving on to a predominantly white institution opened my eyes to the disparity in the educational system and how much zip codes affect a student's education. Learning about the different opportunities my peers had compared to the opportunities I grew up with helped me realize there is a long way to go for the No Child Left Behind Act to benefit underprivileged children. 

Because of these circumstances, I had to continue teaching myself at home to make up for the lack of teaching I received in school. Ms. Smith, my sophomore world history teacher, always made sure she let her students know we are more than capable of breaking the generational curses and going to college. 

On top of that, my senior year college adviser, who was also a first-generation Mexican-American who grew up with very similar struggles, was the representation that further encouraged me. Seeing someone who was, like me, achieving his goals and giving back to the community significantly impacted my career choices. Thanks to his help and my teacher's encouragement, I was able to apply and get into college successfully. But it also made me realize that I want to help other students the same way they helped me. 

"I want to help other students the same way [mentors] helped me."

Pamela Hernandez ’24

Cesar “CJ” Cortorreal ’20

Cortorreal’s Teach for America placement was Kensington Creative and Performing Arts High School in North Philadelphia from August 2020 to August 2022, where he was a special education learning support teacher in math and English as well as a case manager. In September 2022, he began a one-year Fulbright research assignment at University College London/Institute of Education.

• Current location: Baltimore
• Current career: Social emotional learning teacher in Baltimore County Public Schools
• Double major: Sociology and anthropology 

How did Teach for America prepare you for your current career?

Teach for America gave me foundational knowledge and support in the field of education. TFA training was my first teacher-prep program, which I took into my first year of teaching. From there, I built and used the knowledge and skills that I learned at my placement school. 

My mentor, the special education compliance monitor of the school, taught me how to develop effective and comprehensive individual education plans (IEPs), and inspired me to continue my work in special education focusing more on social-emotional learning. 

If it weren't for TFA, I wouldn't have made some of the connections I currently have in education. These are connections I lean on every day as we all work together to ensure our students’ emotional, mental and intellectual well-being are being met.

"Teach for America gave me foundational knowledge and support in the field of education."

Cesar “CJ” Cortorreal ’20

Weston Fillman ’11

Fillman was a Teach for America early childhood educator in Baltimore from June 2012 to June 2014. The job prepared him for his next role, TFA manager of recruitment (campus recruitment / university relations) in Washington, D.C. Fillman worked in college admissions counseling for five years before breaking into the tech industry as a recruiter for Google. This opened his current career path in corporate diversity outreach and engagement. 

• Current location: San Francisco
• Current career: Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Juniper Networks
• Double major: History and government 

How did Teach for America prepare you for your current career?

It gave me a lot of perspective. It’s important that we have goals around corporate responsibility and social responsibility. That's where I see the connection point.

At Google, it was rare to not have a TFA alum. That's the benefit of having people who care about equity broadly. At the time, Google was growing immensely and they were really interested in hiring people who had done recruiting: TFA, Fulbright, etc. They wanted to broaden their talent pool. There are a lot of people in tech companies who worked for TFA. Most people don't go to school to do human resources. It's not as linear a field as finance. 

TFA either looks for people who have strong leadership skills and care about equity. A couple of my closest friends are folks I did TFA with, and folks I'm friends with professionally. There's a shared camaraderie.

"There are a lot of people in tech companies who worked for TFA."

Weston Fillman ’11