Teach for America training starts in Philly

In an oppressively hot classroom decorated with inspirational slogans and a broken clock stuck at 3 p.m., the latest crop of Teach for America recruits forged through the first day of training Monday, propelled by idealism, uplifted by call-and-response choruses, and hydrated by copious supplies of bottled water.

"We're going through this entire volume in five weeks," marveled Andrew Brooks, holding the three-inch-thick instruction manual dubbed the Big Green Monster.

Over the next five weeks, Brooks will receive a crash course in how to be an exemplary teacher.

The 23-year-old graduated from Brandeis University, where he double-majored in economics and history. After graduation and a year working for a property-management firm in New York, he felt the need to do more with his life than "just make money," he said, so he joined the record 46,000 applicants to the competitive TFA program and was among the elite 12 percent accepted.

This is the 20th anniversary for the nonprofit program, which places bright, young college graduates in urban and rural public schools for two-year commitments. It is the fifth year that Philadelphia has hosted one of the eight regional training institutes.

From TFA's inception, think tanks and educators have debated its cost effectiveness and the benefits to students when non-teachers are trained for a short-term commitment. But if any corps members had doubts about TFA's success, the first day of training was designed to squelch them for good.

"You must own what happens in your classroom," exhorted one instructor, an intense young woman in a business suit, her hair pulled back in a ponytail and her voice straining to be heard over the thicket of oscillating fans, rattling like cattails. There will be no tolerance for finger-pointing, she said, no blaming outside factors - poverty, poor parenting, lack of resources - that conspire to drag children down.

"The bottom line," she repeated throughout the morning: "Teachers are what matter."

Later, Brooks attended a class led by Marni Greenstein, a TFA staff member who teaches middle school in Washington. Above the blackboard she had taped a large banner saying "Student Achievement There's an App for That!"

To convey their seriousness of purpose, all corps members adhere to a professional dress code. By noon, though, Brooks had loosened his tie and rolled up his white shirtsleeves.