Teach For America-St. Louis’s (TFA) mission is to enlist, develop, and mobilize as many as possible of our nation's most promising future leaders to serve a minimum two-year teaching commitment to grow and strengthen the movement for educational equity and excellence across the St. Louis region. Teachers, or corps members, participate in a local, summer training institute where they learn fundamental teaching skills from TFA staff and veteran educators and provide a highly rigorous summer school experience for St. Louis area students. During their first two years in the classroom, teachers receive intensive coaching and support to ensure they set their students on academic trajectories and personal life paths that prepare them for the future. A focus on culturally responsive teaching allows students to learn through an inquiry-oriented lens by identifying challenges and applying their learning to determine real and relevant solutions. Following their teaching commitment, corps members become alumni. Alumni work in diverse sectors, including education, to create long-term, systemic change. Because of their classroom experience, alumni are able to act on the conviction and insight they gain from teaching to effect fundamental changes needed in a variety of areas, further ensuring that all children are able to grow and lead in an equitable community. Today, the St. Louis region is home to over 75 corps members and 500 alumni, nearly two-thirds of whom work in education or related fields.
