Teach for America
Nick Compton (B.A. 2009) didn't know it at the time, but his desire for a change of pace, would have him changing diapers in New Orleans.
Compton, a recent graduate of the School of Journalism joined a growing number of Teach For America (TFA) applicants last spring including fellow graduate of the JMC-School, Vanessa Veiock (B.A. 2009). After being accepted into the program, Compton began working as the head teacher of a kindergarten class in New Orleans, La. while Veiock headed west to teach first and second grade at Doull Elementary in Denver, Colo.
Compton said his desire to explore beyond Iowa's borders led him to consider Teach For America.
Snack time Nick Compton teaches a kindergarten class at McDonough 26, in New Orleans, La. Photo by Nick Compton
"I was looking for a change of pace and an adventure, but I was also looking for something that I could feel good about," Compton said.
Teach For America is an organization that aims to end education inequality by recruiting college graduates from any major to teach in a low-income area for two years. When applying, there are seven qualities that Teach For America looks for in a candidate.
TFA lists leadership skills, perseverance, strong critical thinking skills, the ability to motivate others, organizational ability, respect for students and families in low-income communities, and the desire to work towards TFA's vision as the seven crucial ingredients involved in making a successful teacher.
"Research over the last 20 years has determined what sort of features make for the most successful teacher," Christine Bushey, recruitment director for Teach For America said."I’ve talked with many journalism majors who demonstrate all of these things, a lot of them have had good leadership experience, especially in the field and with different publications."
Veiock agrees that having a degree in journalism helped her to prepare for the challenges of teaching.
"Journalists are curious, resourceful, persistent and non-judgmental — traits that are vital to a teaching career. In a low-income school, you’ve got to learn to work with what you've got and figure out an alternative," Veiock said.
After submitting an application Compton was invited to interview with TFA.
"The interview process was intense, and rightfully so," Compton said. "Teach For America does a good job of getting graduates who are serious and committed."
After completing the two-part interview process, Compton was admitted and assigned to a kindergarten class at McDonough 26, in New Orleans. Though his family was less than thrilled about his decision to venture south, Compton accepted the position.
"My family was pretty skeptical, they asked if I was sure I really wanted to do it, but I was always convinced that this is what I wanted to do," Compton said.
Starting this last August, Compton became the head teacher of a class full of 20 kindergartners, four of whom have autism and are consequently nonverbal and not toilet-trained.
"This has been a bigger challenge than I was anticipating," Compton said. "Especially with the autistic children--they require constant attention."
Compton, whose only experience with children before his placement in New Orleans was with Big Brothers Big Sisters, and as a tutor, said that he felt very much on his own during his first few weeks of school, but his background in journalism helped him to get the answers he needed.
"This has been a complete culture shock; I've been placed in an environment that I had no background in, and thrust into a leadership position," Compton said. "But having a background in journalism helped me to think critically and having that curiosity helped me to ask the right questions."
After only a few months of teaching, Compton has already begun to see results. "I definitely see an improvement; the kids are learning and a major part of that is just being here for them day-in and day-out," Compton said.
Like many children in low-income areas, Compton’s students are often lacking a male role model in their lives. "It’s been rewarding to bond with my students, for a lot of them, I’m the only male in their lives--they look up to me," Compton said.
Compton also enjoys the constant entertainment that comes along with teaching a kindergarten class. He laughed as he described a scene in which he was teaching about opposites and when the word "female" appeared a little girl proclaimed that the opposite of a female is a jerk.
"Little things like that happen every day," Compton said. "No matter how hard the day is, there are moments like that, or a kid will say, ’I love you, Mr. Nick.’"
For now, all of Compton's energy is spent in the classroom, However, he says in the near future he hopes to begin writing articles again.
"This experience will definitely give me a lot of material to write about-every day is incredible and bizarre and once it settles down I'll have so much to write about," Compton said. "I'm hoping to start freelancing for some local publications soon."
Bushey said that Compton’s hopes of returning to journalism are important to Teach For America; the organization has an online alumni network consisting of over 17,000 people in the professional world who are eager to provide real world connections for former TFA participants.
"We want you to pursue a career that you want to have, but we want you to continue trying to make an impact — many of our alumni have gone on to pursue jobs other than teaching, but most of them continue to work towards decreasing inequality in education," Bushey said. "We need people like journalists to raise awareness for the education gap."
Veiock has already begun to using her journalistic skills in an effort to end education inequality by keeping a blog with hopes that she can use it later in a bigger project.
"I am a journalist at heart and while being a teacher per say isn’t a journalistic career, I find that it builds experience on a subject worthy of journalistic attention" Veiock said.