Teach for America in Memphis

Dan Eyer, Anna Herzog, and McKenzie Byrd started the year in a seemingly untenable position - in 2007 only 45% of students at Kingsbury High School passed the state’s Algebra I state test with only 13% scoring on the advanced level.  By comparison, in Williamson County (one of the wealthiest communities in TN), 93% of the students passed the Algebra I exam, with 71 percent scoring at the advanced level.

Celebrate Teach for America Week

Over the last few months, tens of thousands of outstanding recent graduates of all academic majors and career interests have applied to Teach For America, determined to channel their talent and energy against our nation's greatest injustice -- the fact that where one is born in our country still determines his or her educational outcomes.  Teach For America will select about 4,000 rare leaders from among these applicants and will train and support them to teach successfully for two years in our nation's highest poverty communities and then to work throughout their lives, from inside and out

Citizenship 101 - Part 1

Part of my role at FedEx is to lead the development of our Global Citizenship Report (GCR). Hopefully, you have seen this report and have been able to review some of the many initiatives that we participate in and track. The report is broken down into four main “pillars”. 1. Economics & Access 2. Environment & Efficiency 3. Community & Disaster Relief 4. People & Workplace

Feeding the Hungry During Tough Times

America is known as the land of plenty. But for 1 in 8 Americans, hunger is a reality. Over the past year, food banks have struggled with a drop in donations while demand has increased by 30%. A recent study found that 36 million Americans, including 12 million children, are living on the brink of hunger and many people who once donated to food banks now find themselves on the receiving end of food bank services.

Brain Food for Hungry Kids

Have you ever thought about what a hungry child does over the weekends when she isn't at school to receive Title 1-funded breakfast and lunch?  Unfortunately, hunger doesn't disappear over the weekend.  Can you imagine how long those weekends must be?  How can we possibly expect her to make good grades if she is missing meals?  Recently, a story ran on the San Francisco/Oakland CBS affiliate about a great FedEx Backpack program in connection with the Alameda County Food Bank to deliver bags of food to students on