Alums Enter National Teach for America Program

University of La Verne alums are on their way to schools across America to “give back” through teaching kindergarteners, high school and special education students in the Teach for America program.

La’Shae Bourgeois ’14, Ryanne Bible ‘16, and Cameron Mendez ‘16, share a motivation and commitment to educate children who need it most.

“I really have a passion for helping people,” Mendez said. “I think my time at the University of La Verne has prepared me for this. I hope I can instill in my students, at the very least, the understanding that things won’t always work out the way you planned, but if you’re persistent you will do well.”

Bourgeois has known since she was a child that she wanted to be a teacher.

The 25-year-old found inspiration from several of her teachers, and considered school to be the place she loved most as a child growing up in Watts.

“I always wanted to be that teacher – the one that kids remember as having inspired them,” Bourgeois said.

Bourgeois graduated from the University of La Verne in spring 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies with a concentration in human development. She earned a master’s degree in teaching from the University of Southern California in June.

Through Teach For America, she has been placed in an elementary school in northern Memphis, Tenn., where she will teach kindergarten in the fall. Just a week after her arrival to the city, Bourgeois said she has “fallen in love.”

“Everyone here has the same viewpoints that I have – that we really need to wholeheartedly give back,” said Bourgeois after meeting with community members, parents and school officials.

Ryanne Bible, 21, said she is thrilled to be part of the program and to fill an important need in a struggling community. In the fall, Bible will teach high school English in Las Vegas.

“It’s really a high-need area here,” Bible said. “It’s a big transient town, and a lot of the kids are homeless. The teachers don’t stay, so there’s a shortage of more than 800 teachers in the area, I’m told.”

Teach For America is a national teacher corps program requiring a two-year commitment to teach in an underprivileged and high-need area. The nonprofit organization recruits teachers with a passion for providing quality education to students from low-income, rural and urban communities.

The organization’s mission is to enlist, develop and mobilize as many as possible of our nation’s future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for educational equity and excellence.

The speech communications major and psychology minor said that while teaching was always in the back of her mind, she changed majors four times. In the end, it took seeing one of her University of La Verne professors doing community service work to solidify her goal of becoming a teacher. She said she also wanted to give back to her community.

“I can’t wait to meet my students and hear their stories and see how far they go,” she said. “It’s going to be amazing.”

Cameron Mendez is waiting for his Teach for America assignment, but believes his job will involve teaching special education students.

Mendez earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of La Verne in May, and will earn his teaching credential while working in the Teach For America program.

“I originally wanted to be a social worker,” recalled Mendez. “But I had a lot of great professors who really inspired me to go into teaching.”

The 21-year-old said he’s expecting his first year to be challenging, but is eager to help his students.