A teacher’s first year in the classroom is never easy; creating lesson plans from scratch and learning the ropes requires long hours. It’s doubly hard when you start teaching at age 59, as Dora Currea did.
Ms. Currea recently finished her first year of teaching at High Point High School in Beltsville, Md., a school serving about 2,400 mostly low-income students. She was hired at High Point after participating in Teach for America, a nonprofit that trains people from diverse backgrounds to become teachers. In return, TFA participants make a two-year commitment to teach in high-need schools.