Lilly Advocates Will Help Teach For America Teachers Build Community Connections in Support of Student Achievement INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Teach For America and Eli Lilly and Company today launched a program to support the efforts of new teachers working in the city's low-income communities. Lilly employees will pair with Teach For America teachers to help them get acclimated to the city and to foster networking opportunities. The Lilly employee advocates and Teach For America teachers will meet for the first time at a matching event tonight at Lilly corporate headquarters. Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. Teach For America expanded to Indianapolis this fall, bringing 46 dedicated young teachers to work in Indianapolis Public Schools. Each of these corps members was matched with a Lilly employee based on personal profiles submitted online. The Lilly advocacy efforts will supplement the ongoing professional development and support that corps members receive from Teach For America. "We're grateful to Lilly and its employees for their commitment to support our teachers as they work relentlessly to make sure students reach their full academic potential," said Jason Kloth, executive director of Teach For America in Indianapolis. "This is an especially valued partnership as we establish roots in the community." More than half of the Indianapolis charter corps grew up or attended school in Indiana. Nationally, 3,700 top college graduates joined Teach For America's 2008 corps. They were selected for their strong academic achievement and leadership experience from nearly 25,000 applicants, including 14 percent of graduating seniors at DePauw University, 11 percent at Morehouse College and Yale University, and 9 percent at the University of Notre Dame and Harvard University. A growing body of rigorous research on Teach For America demonstrates the effectiveness of corps members in the classroom. A study released this year by the Urban Institute found that Teach For America corps members have a positive impact on student achievement relative to other teachers, including those who are fully certified in their subject areas. Teach For America's impact extends to the long-term engagement of its alumni in education and public service. Some two-thirds of Teach For America alumni are still working or studying full-time in education, including 4,000 classroom teachers and more than 360 school leaders. In addition, 15 Teach For Alumni serve as elected officials and more than 500 work on Capitol Hill or in government or policy. "As Lilly encourages employee volunteerism, we have chosen to place a significant emphasis on educational outreach that drives measurable results," said Robert Smith, president of the Lilly Foundation. "We are excited about this new collaboration with Teach For America and look forward to sharing the time and talents of our Lilly employees to make this outstanding program even better." Speakers at tonight's event will include Robert Smith, Derica Rice, Lilly's Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Teach For America corps member Stephanie Parido, an honors graduate of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University who teaches math at Willard J. Gambold Middle School. About Teach For America Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. This year, 6,200 corps members are teaching in over 1,600 schools in 29 regions across the country while more than 14,000 Teach For America alumni continue working from inside and outside the field of education for the fundamental changes necessary to ensure educational excellence and equity. For more information, visit http://www.teachforamerica.org/. About Lilly Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of first-in-class and best-in-class pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Lilly provides answers -- through medicines and information -- for some of the world's most urgent medical needs. Additional information about Lilly is available at http://www.lilly.com/. DATASOURCE: Eli Lilly and Company CONTACT: Rhonda Stewart, Teach For America, +1-202-552-2400, ; or Carla Cox, Eli Lilly and Company, +1-317-651-4017, Web site: http://www.teachforamerica.org/ http://www.lilly.com/

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