Latest MTC Update...
Hi Everyone,
I hope you are all doing well. This has been a very busy time for MTC as one class finishes and another class comes in.
I know many of you want a recruiting update. Our application deadline was April 22nd. We received a total of 634 applications, falling well short of this year’s goal of 800 applications. Last year we received 405 applications so we had a greater than 55% increase in the number of applications. My first full year as Program Manager, in 2004, we received 120 applications. So, over the last three years, we have had a 450% increase in applications. 634 is the greatest number of applications MTC has ever received, breaking last year's record.
Of the 634 applications received, we gave out 47 acceptances for an incoming total of 28 participants. This gives us an acceptance rate of 7%. This is the most competitive year ever for MTC (last year our acceptance rate was 11%). To put this into perspective, Harvard and Yale accept about 9% of all applicants. Teach For America accepts about 16% of all applicants. So, viewed through the prism of either competitive four-year education programs or competitive teaching programs, MTC is the most competitive program in the nation (by percent of applicants accepted). We also instituted a phone interview as part of the regular application process (thanks to Joe Sweeney ’04 and Matt Bauers ’04 for their help with this) and that has been a big help. The summer internship was even more competitive. We received 124 applications for one spot. I’ll send out more information about the incoming Class of 2007 in June. The first day of training is Tuesday, June 5th.
News story this month is on the Class of 2005, who had "Portfolio Day" last Saturday. We’ve got YouTube clips and photos as well (hyperlinks below).
The portfolio is the final assignement for each MTC participant. About half of this year’s class chose to do an online portfolio. You can view them here. This year’s winner of the “Most Outstanding Portfolio Award” was Lily Chan-Chien. Jessica Wysopal was runner-up. Last year, Joel Harris was the winner. Joe Sweeney and Elizabeth Young tied for second.
The University of Mississippi has a nice story on Dave Jones and his championship winning Quiz Bowl Team. We presented Dave with a check for $500 (thanks to an anonymous donation) to help with travel costs. You can see the video here.
Photo of the Month is courtesy of Ruth Kuhnau.
Profile of the Month is on first-year Chris Caputo.
NPR ran two stories about the Delta and two of our teachers, Ashley Johnson and Elizabeth Savage. You can listen to both stories here.
I’m in the process of switching my blog to Vox. For this year’s incoming class, the blogs will all be Vox accounts as they provide several layers of security.
Speaking of the blogs here is the latest MTC Blog update:
AG contemplates not returning for year two.
One of ZJ’s students asks, “What is poverty?”
One of GM’s student’s likes Oreos and Gatorade.
At the end of her first year DM asks, “Am I glad I came to Mississippi?”
MD writes about the end of his two years in MTC.
Be sure to visit the website where you can watch movies (including our Teacher Spotlight series), read blogs, view participant profiles, and see photos. Our YouTube site is here. Our SmugMug page is here.
As always, please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Ben Guest
Program Manager
Mississippi Teacher Corps
Email: mtc@olemiss.edu
Website: www.mtcorps.net
Phone: 662-915-5224
Ben's Website
Ben's Blog
The Mississippi Teacher Corps is the most competitive teaching program in the country. The two-year program, designed for non-education majors, recruits college graduates to teach in the Mississippi Delta and offers a host of benefits, including teacher training and certification, a full scholarship for a master's degree in education, job placement that includes full pay and benefits and, most importantly, the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of students in one of the poorest areas of the country.
http://www.olemiss.edu/programs/mtc/
http://www.youtube.com/mtcorps
http://www.mtc.smugmug.com/
http://www.olemiss.edu/programs/mtc/Participants/Media/Websites/mtc_sites.htm
http://www.olemiss.edu/cgi-bin/news2000/display.pl?id=6149&mode=full
http://www.olemiss.edu/programs/mtc/Media/photo_month/main.htm
http://www.olemiss.edu/programs/mtc/Participants/monthlyprofile/main.htm
http://www.olemiss.edu/programs/mtc/Media/Audio/MTCaudio.htm
http://mtc.vox.com/
http://www.olemiss.edu/programs/mtc/Participants/TheMTCExperience/blogs/blogs.htm
http://trekabout.blogspot.com/2007/05/contracted-to-serve.html
http://unclecoy.blogspot.com/2007/04/mr.html
http://younevercantellwithbees.blogspot.com/2007/04/oreos.html
http://adventures-n-teaching.blogspot.com/2007/04/wish-ida-known.html
http://dmmolina.blogspot.com/2007/04/end-of-era.html
http://www.olemiss.edu/programs/mtc/index.htm
