Pre-Preparation

After I matriculated, I was sent a box of books to read before the official summer training. I received this box in the midst of my hardest, most reading-intensive semester and was none to pleased, since part of the work we had to do along with the reading involved classroom observation-- I was supposed to get a large chunk of the reading done before school let out so I could go observe. I ended up counting my volunteering (bilingual first graders 9-11 every Friday) as my observation and didn't start the reading until I had graduated.

I didn't have much choice about when I interviewed and took tests though, so I did have to make a trip up to Chicago in addition to the few I took for various weddings and other celebrations. I got into Evanston on a Wednesday night and had to be at the Teach for America office at 8 am Thursday morning. We had about an hour of introduction and breakfast, and then the interviews started at nine. They had a large room set up with dozens of tables. Each school had one or two (or three) reresentatives. School sent everyone from principles to former corps members who were just regular teachers. Each interviewee was assigned to go see schools in twenty minute increments until about noon, but those assignments changed frequently as schools failed to show up or only wanted you long enough to give you a quick look and set up a follow up interview. After an interview you'd either go to the next one or back to the waiting room, sitting under a sign for your subject area so that if any school wasn'tinterviewing someone at that particular moment, someone from TFA could quickly scan the subject area to see if they could squeeze another interview in. I spoke with 6 schools total and ended up with five follow ups - one for that afternoon and four for the next day.

The interview that afternoon was at the Howard area alternative high school, a school for kids who didn't finish at a traditional high school. The person in charge seemed to like me, but they all were a bit concerned that I look so young-- many of their students are 18-20.

Friday I had to be at the office at 6:15. THe office staff had spent all afternoon coordinating where everyone was going so that we could all carpool. That meant that the first school our car of three people went to wasn't hiring Spanish teachers and I got to just hang out while the other two met people. The principal wasn't there so they couldn't actually interview, something that was surprising then but not so much so after we'd been to multiple schools. At one school I went to, I had to explain to the principal what Teach for America was, and why I didn't have an education degree but expected to be able to teach in the fall. It was also the day after the PLAN test that all juniors have to take, so many of the schools were noticeably empty. The director of the language department at one school took one look at me and said, "um, we're really looking to hire a native speaker, so...." A couple of other schools said "we were happy to interview you, but our Spanish teacher isn't here/can't meet with you right now, so we can't hire you yet." If I ever am in teh position to hire anyone, I'm remembering this experience and being upfront with people. I followed up with those that I could, but never ehard back. The TFA office said they followed up with the school I really wanted to be at and discovered that the school only had the budget to hire someone who could teach both French and Spanish.

During the day, Tricia and I ended up splitting from Carrie, whose car we were originally in, because all three of us had extra interviews scheduled last minute. Someone from the office came to drive us and we went ALL over the city, south to north to west and back. Tricia was hired on the spot as an English teacher, and Carrie was also hired that day at a second interview.

Saturday was another early morning. I had to be at 111th Street for the Basic Skills and Spanish content area tests. Dad drove me down to be there at 8. The basic skills test is a five hour test that I sent 2.5 hours on and scored a 290/300... it's pretty basic. I spent a bit longer on the Spanish test and was on the bus to the red line a little before 5. Nora met me at Howard about two hours later, having finished her Basic Skills/school psych double heeader, and we celebrated with margaritas.

The week Monday after graduation, I got an e-mal a little after noon telling me I had an interview the next day at 3 in Chicago. I hopped online and bought a bus ticket to Union station for the next morning. I made it to CICS Ellison by about 2:15 and Mr. Gordon saw me early. I was done by about 2:45, with a second interview scheduled for the following week, and headed to Midway. I had arranged with the driver of the morning bus that I could be picked up there (a 10 minute drive from 8100 s. California instead of going back to Union Station) at 7. There is NOTHING to do at Midway if you can't go past security and baggage claim doesn't thrill you. The next day I started work.

I contacted the TFA office to ask if they could get me any other interviews for the day when I was traveling back for my second Ellison interview. They set me up with Urban Prep, the only public all boys school in the city. I rented a car for the day, changed into my suit in the Subway sandwich shop where I had lunch, and got to meet the principal of Ellison. The interview was short but they seemed enthusiastic. Urban Prep was a little strange- they asked if I was married or engaged, among other things. A few days later, Ellison called and offered me a job. a BIG relief. All told, I sat down for 14 interviews, just one shy of the TFA Chicago average of 15-- a clear indicator of the fact that the shortage in Chicago is of teacher quality, not quantity.