The University of Wisconsin played host to Teach for America last week, inviting students to learn more about the program from the organization's alumni.

"For me, the best way to have a broader impact on the issue [of education in low-income areas] is working with the program," said Amy Duarte, a recruitment director for Teach for America and an alumna of the program.

Duarte put on last Wednesday's "meet and eat" and hosts similar events at universities across Wisconsin and at DePaul University in Chicago. She said she hopes to "inform [students] about this problem we have in society" in order to generate program interest among soon-to-be college graduates.

She went on to say that students in low-income areas are 50 percent less likely to graduate from high school and seven times less likely to graduate from college than students from higher-income areas.

Duarte described her experiences in the program, saying that Teach for America made her aware of educational differences in varying demographics.

Graduating in 2004 from UW with degrees in political science and history, Duarte entered the program at age 21. Originally from Milwaukee, she was sent to Washington, D.C., for her two-year stint with the Teach for America program.

"Living in D.C. was definitely a change from Madison," Duarte said. "It completely opens my eyes to things in this country."

Before they are placed in one of the 25 rural and urban areas where the program operates, teachers must complete six weeks at a summer training institute.

Duarte said she attended the institute in June 2004 and knew right away that things were going to be very different from what she was used to. She saw stores with bars on the windows and steel gates in front of their doors, she said, adding that "even on Halloween we don't do that here."

Catherine Pautsch, another Teach for America alumna, also shared input about her new experiences in the south.

"There are unspoken codes you have to follow," she said.

Pautsch graduated from the University of California-Berkeley in 2004 with a degree in political science and was then sent to Charlotte, N.C., after receiving her training in Houston.

During her six weeks there, Pautsch said, she attended classes and discussions as well as team-taught and worked on lesson plans.

As a high school Spanish teacher for the program, Pautsch said she encountered many obstacles, including "parents who didn't want to hear from me because I was a young, white teacher."

Many top students who join the program have a hard time understanding how challenging Teach for America will actually be, she added.

"You go, and you do something you've never done before, and you fail," she said.

Despite her initial frustration, Pautsch said she went on to enjoy her experience and now wants to be a school principal. She is currently enrolled in the educational leadership and policy analysis Ph.D. program at UW.

"Education policy needs to get done," Pautsch said. "You can't help but think, 'How can I make a change in the area of education?'"