Texas Border Business
McALLEN, Texas — Teach For America (TFA) Rio Grande Valley announced today that it is the recipient of a $10,000 gift from Vantage Bank and the Loring Cook Foundation. The funding will help the education and leadership development nonprofit recruit, train, and support educators throughout the region. With a 30-year history in the Rio Grande Valley, TFA currently has approximately 50 educators, known as corps members, and 200 alumni teaching and serving in various educational roles throughout the region, with an impact spanning thousands of students.
“We thank Vantage Bank and the Loring Cook Foundation for their generosity. With their support, TFA Rio Grande Valley continues to pursue its mission of expanding educational opportunities locally, particularly for our most vulnerable students,” shared TFA Rio Grande Valley’s executive director, Ana Gonzalez. “We know that education is one of the largest factors that influences economic mobility for our young people. With support from our community partners, we are better able to guide the next generation of students on a pathway to a future full of possibilities We believe the support of our local business community, including Vantage Bank, is crucial to educating and preparing young people to lead in important roles in the Valley. Additionally, a strong base of community-driven philanthropy from partners such as the Loring Cook Foundation, ensures we can leverage our national program but informed and implemented at the local level,” said Gonzalez.
“At Vantage Bank we help our customers turn vision into a reality to achieve their business success. We know helping our community achieve financial success requires an investment in education and our young people. We are proud to annually support Teach For America and their vision of unlocking the full potential of all students in the Rio Grande Valley,” stated Jeff Sinnott, President and CEO.
In order to address current challenges in education, including ongoing learning recovery due to the pandemic and critical teacher shortages, Teach For America selects, develops, and retains talented teachers and systems leaders to work throughout the Rio Grande Valley. TFA partners closely with several local school districts to provide a high-quality pipeline of educators to meet current, local needs. TFA’s corps members undergo rigorous training prior to entering the classroom as well as throughout their following two years as corps members. Additionally, as alumni of the program, TFA members access continued leadership and career development support and resources in order to grow as education leaders and work in the most critical roles to support continued progress in public education across the region. As TFA Rio Grande Valley prepares for a new school year, the organization is set to welcome one of its largest ever cohorts of locally grown leaders as new corps members.
Funding from Vantage Bank and the Loring Cook Foundation will additionally support the education nonprofit’s new tutoring program, the Ignite Fellowship, a national high-impact tutoring corps designed to accelerate learning and foster belonging with students in the wake of learning loss brought on by the pandemic. Launched in the RGV in the 2022-2023 school year, the Ignite Fellowship gives selected undergraduate college students a part-time paid opportunity to make an immediate impact in middle school math proficiency by leading small group learning experiences with the support of veteran educators. Data shows that students participating in Ignite are improving more rapidly than their peers. Additionally, the program introduces college students to teaching, potentially creating a pipeline to the profession.
