Teach For America

Teach For America is a nationwide initiative to address the
shirtage of teachers in the US. A recent study estimated that the
nationwide shortage in 2018, which was around 110 thousand, is
expected to nearly double to 200 thousand by 2025.


Teach For America is an organization that seeks to enlist and
mobilize bright, motivated future leaders and put them to work
for two year stints, helping improve some of the nation’s poorest
performing and most under-served public schools.


Laura Vinsant heads the South Louisiana region of Teach for
America. Laura is an alum of LSU and its Manship School of Mass
Communications, who was drawn to TFA’s mission after graduating
in 2007 because of her positive experience as a volunteer tutor.
Laura spent the next two years teaching second and third grade
students at a school in North Baton Rouge, and became so invested
with the organization she stayed with it. Since 2016, Laura has
led the South Louisiana TFA region, which was one of the six
original regions the organization served. Today, Laura oversees a
cohort of more than 200 teachers, who last year impacted more
than 15-thousand students in the four parish region, which
includes Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana and Pointe
Coupee. 


Lucas Spielfogel is a Teach for America alumnus, who taught 7th
grade at Baker Middle School during his tenure with TFA from
2010-2012. Lucas was born in New York, raised in south Florida,
went back up north for college, attending Yale University, where
he graduated with a bachelor’s in history. Lucas joined TFA to
give something back and after two years was so hooked on his new
community that he joined the Baton Rouge Youth Coalition, an
organization that helps high-achieving, under resourced teens
prepare, excel and graduate from college. Since 2013, Lucas has
led the organization as Executive Director, growing the number of
students it serves from 50 to more than 250 across nine school
districts.


Although many of us pride ourselves on how many generations back
we can trace our Louisiana roots, we can be equally proud of the
caliber and contribution of young people like Laura and Lucas who
make the choice to move here and who are making such a
significant contribution to our region.


Photos over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard.


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