Tuesday night, the UnlockED Career Fair, “ExplorED,” gave UA students who hope to have an impact on education an opportunity to get to know more about some regional schools and organizatons.
Kate Moss, a senior majoring in Spanish and anthropology, is the president of UnlockED. It is a new campus organization founded on the belief that every child deserves a high-quality education regardless of zip code, race or socioeconomic status. The organization uses a two-pronged approach of policy and practice, where they talk about issues and provide opportunities to learn more and actively get involved.
“There is often this tension between these more alternative programs and traditional programs,” Moss said. “One of UnlockED’s major goals is to explore those nuances and diffuse the tension a little bit and bring both sides of the table together. At the end of the day, everyone really just wants a high quality education for kids.”
Several charter schools reached out to UnlockED, looking for a way to reach UA students. UnlockED decided having a career fair would be a great way to connect.
“I think that in a panel setting little things come out that set an organizations apart and kind of make you realize ‘This will actually make a really good fit for me and I didn’t realize it,’” Moss said. “Even if you think you have a really good idea, it takes it a step further than an Internet site.”
Teach for America, Memphis Teacher Residency, Valor Collegiate Academies, RePublic Charter Schools, YES Prep and the UA Graduate School were all represented on Tuesday’s panel.
Most of the schools that were present use a random lottery to choose their students. They also mostly work with low-income families. All of the organizations had similar pay ranges.
UnlockED has a meeting on charter schools scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, in 120 Lloyd.
