Andy Zuckerman poses outside of the ILR Conference Center. Nicola Kountopes/University Photography
School of Industrial and Labor Relations senior Andy Zuckerman calls himself a "pragmatic idealist." Perhaps that explains why he decided to teach in an inner-city classroom for two years following graduation instead of taking a more lucrative job in labor or industry or going on to graduate school like many of his ILR classmates and friends.
"I'm excited. It should make for quite an experience," said Zuckerman, who was one of 500 college seniors from across the United States to be selected by Teach for America, a nonprofit program that works to improve the educational experience of students in the nation's poorer secondary schools.
Like other graduates in Teach for Amer-ica, Zuckerman will earn a standard starting-teacher's salary, which will help him pay off his student loans sooner. Another plus: The program has partnerships with companies interested in hiring college graduates. One of them, Anderson Consulting, has promised a position to Zuckerman when he completes his teaching commitment. "They're a progressive thinking company," he said, "and it's a great recruiting tactic."
Zuckerman attended public high school in suburban Scarsdale, N.Y., before coming to Cornell, and he said, "I believe strongly in the public education system." His father was a teacher at John F. Kennedy High School, a Bronx public school with far fewer resources than Scarsdale High School and many more problems. The contrast gave Zuckerman a powerful sense of the inequities in U.S. education and motivated him to volunteer for Teach for America.
"One of the most pragmatic ways that young college graduates can make a difference today," he said, "is by taking a few years off to give to the public education system."
Zuckerman transferred into the ILR School after two years at Colorado College. His heavy course load here, as many as six courses some semesters, caused him to joke that ILR really stands for I Love to Read. The courses that stood out most for him were U.S. Labor History taught by Assistant Professor Jefferson Cowie and Expository Writing taught by Senior Lecturer Barbara Le Gendre.
He spent one college summer working for the office of New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. His assignment: to find private-sector summer jobs for disadvantaged high school students. Not only were the students appreciative, Zuckerman said, but he got to learn a lot about the inner workings of city government.
Zuckerman has been a volunteer for the Ithaca Youth Bureau's One-to-One Program, spending time as a "big brother" to a local elementary school student.
"We went out on weekends, played baseball, went bowling, had some fun," said Zuckerman. Most important, getting to know an actual college graduate may help the young student consider going to college himself. Zuckerman would like to see more Cornell students, especially men, involved in One-to-One.
On campus Zuckerman assisted a visually impaired student in the College of Human Ecology, reading and audiotaping some of her course materials for her. And this year he's balanced his course work with a full-time job with the United States Census Bureau.
Some of Zuckerman's friends have told him that while they envy his idealism, they can't see themselves devoting two years to Teach for America. They don't know what they're missing, he says. "It's a great opportunity to channel your energies and make a contribution."
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