Before arriving at Dartmouth from his hometown of Anchorage, Alaska, Justin May '00 could hardly have imagined pursuing a career educating disadvantaged youth.
That was before he was assigned to read Jonathan Kozol's "Savage Inequalities" -- a book which chronicles dire conditions in public schools across the country -- for his Education 20 class.
"I didn't know these sorts of situations existed," May said of the conditions described in the book. "I got really fired up, and felt that I couldn't live with myself doing anything else other than helping these people if these things were true."
Now, less than three years after graduation, May is the executive director for Teach for America's program at the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, which aims to provide a strong education to over 4,500 children in the region.
Teach for America, an organization founded in 1984 to address the achievement gap between children from high- and low-income families, manages around 2,600 teachers in urban and rural public schools across the country. Enthusiasm for the program has been strong, with over 14,000 applications submitted last year for only 1,700 teaching positions, May said. Most were sent in by college seniors planning to join Teach for America following graduation.
May, who applied during his senior year at Dartmouth, participated in an intensive teacher training session during the summer of 2000, and was later assigned to a New Orleans elementary school to instruct third graders.
Before arriving at the school, May said, he "heard rumors about how tough the kids were," and how previous teachers had given up and quit their jobs when faced with conditions that made effective teaching all but impossible.
"I got chewed up and spit out by a group of 25 eight and nine-year olds," May said. "You're really separated from that idealism you have in college."
Despite the initial challenges, over the course of two years May succeeded in significantly raising students' achievement scores, narrowing the gap between his students and those from high-income areas.
Such gains were not realized without innovative changes in the way students were taught, May said.
Among students who had virtually no experience with science classes, given under-performing schools' lack of resources and focus on basic reading and mathematics skills, May obtained a grant to create a science program from the ground up. The new program included after-school enrichment classes, tutoring sessions, a stay at an environmental camp in northern Alabama and dozens of other field trips, May said.
To recognize his efforts, Teach for America last year presented May with the Sue Lehmann award, given annually to a corps member who has effected "great gains in student achievement," May said.
Currently, as executive director for the Navajo Nation in northwestern New Mexico, May manages and supports Teach for America's regional staff, raises funds for the organization and looks for ways to adapt the tone of the program to the regional culture, a responsibility which May said "dovetails nicely" with his own interests as a Native American Studies major at Dartmouth.
Earlier this week, May arrived on the Dartmouth campus to sit in on education and English classes, meet with several administrators and speak with a campus groups about Teach for America and how students can get involved.
"I want to ask what responsibilities do we have as people from a background of privilege to look at the problems of society and take steps to change them," May said.
