The rumors are true: We will be taking part in Teach For America’s Challenge for Tomorrow’s Leaders campaign.
The goal is a lofty $250,000 and we’re asking you to help recruit, train and support at least 50 Bay Area Teach For America corps members. And, as always, Team TechCrunch is going to kick everyone else’s butts.
Teach For America places some of the best and brightest college grads in teaching positions within low-income schools. These young teachers have proven to be a valuable addition to impoverished urban and rural school districts. The organization is flooded with applications each year but TFA only has the funds to deploy a few teachers to the most needy districts.
That’s where we come in.
The goal is to raise $250,000 through Causes, which, as noted, would fund at least 50 teachers in the Bay Area. Teach For America has been working in the Bay Area since 1991, with 430 TFA corps members working in Richmond, Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose — reaching over 30,000 students at 127 schools.
The contest will run until April 18th, and there will be two grand prizes. The individual, or team, that helps Teach For America fund the most teachers will win an opportunity at the home of the World Champion San Francisco Giants and a table for 10 at Teach For America – Bay Area’s 3rd Annual Benefit Dinner on April 23rd, featuring keynote speaker Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO. Teach for America also encourages support at all levels and the individual, or team that garners the most individual donations will win the entire Westward Leaning collection found here. If TechCrunch wins, we’ll give those tickets to the people or startup that contributed the most to the Team TechCrunch till.
We’ll also be holding weekly contests to support Team TechCrunch in Teach For America’s Challenge. This week, the person or startup that helps us raise the most money will win two tickets to Disrupt NY. We’ll also throw in some TechCrunch T-shirts, stickers and anything else we can dig out of the supply closet. This week’s contest closes at noon PST Friday, March 22nd.
Check back often. We’re committed to this campaign and have weekly contests in the works. Even for selfish reasons: We’ll award the person or startup that helps us raise the most money overall two tickets to our Disrupt shows in NY, SF and Berlin.
To sign up or to donate, visit our page here.