Teach for America panel explores classroom innovation

The statistics are bleak. Educational deficiencies in the United States are reaching pandemic proportions, as  only about 70 percent of American students graduate from high school. 

Working to change that, ASU President Michael M. Crow; Mari E. Koerner, dean of the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College; and Pearl Chang Esau, executive director of Teach for America in Phoenix, will conduct a panel discussion on entrepreneurship in the education field from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Nov. 4, in the Old Main Carson Ballroom, on the Tempe campus. 

Andrea Stouder, executive director of the Sanford Education Project, will moderate the panel discussion.

The panel will address innovative ways to solve educational inequity in Phoenix and across the country. Those who are teaching will share their experiences working in some of the region’s highest-need schools. Those who are working outside of the classroom will talk about how their teaching experiences influenced their current work in various spheres of educational entrepreneurship.

Teach For America corps members and alumni will serve on the panel, including: Andrew Collins, director of school development for the Arizona Charter Schools Association; traditional public school teachers Silvio Delgado, an alumnus, and Shelly Oberstein, a 2009 corps member; Gary L. Trujillo, founder of Southwest Harvard Group and the Be A Leader Foundation; Rachel Bennett Yanof, executive director and founder of Phoenix Collegiate Academy; and Michael Zimmerman, pro se law clerk for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona.

Old Main is located at 400 E. Tyler Mall in Tempe. 

For more information, contact Cynthia Cho at 424-220-0604 or cynthia.cho@teachforamerica.org.