Washington - Hundreds of graduates from America's most prestigious universities are temporarily setting aside their high-powered career ambitions to teach at inner-city schools, as part of a program to help children from low-income families.
The programme, "Teach for America", was founded in 1990 and annually recruits top graduates from institutions such as Yale, Harvard, Cornell and Berkeley to impart their knowledge for two years to underprivileged students in inner-city or rural areas.
Some 2 000 were recruited last year, among them Jennifer Kirmes, a University of Massachusetts biochemistry graduate who initially wanted to continue her studies to become a doctor or settle for a fat salary at a pharmaceutical company.
But instead, Kirmes has just completed her first year teaching chemistry at Washington's Cesar Chavez high school, where nearly 75% of the students are eligible for free or reduced-fee school lunches, according to officials.
Forget problems at home
The challenge for Kirmes and others like her begins as soon as she steps into the classroom every day. Her first objective is to get the students to concentrate and to help them forget whatever outside problems they may bring into the class, whether it be related to their home life or their social environment.
To motivate the teenagers, she has asked each to write down on a piece of paper that they are required to keep posted in front of them where they expect to be in two years. One student is eager to join the air force, another wants to earn a college degree and a third simply hopes to "be rich".
On a recent day, Kirmes is teaching ideal gas law, which relates to the equation used to determine the pressure and volume of a gas.
In the front row sits Tony, who has quickly taken in the lesson. Behind him is Michael, who is unable to complete the exercise and hands in a blank sheet of paper. Next to him is his brother Lindsay, who says he doesn't mind the subject matter and manages to get an average grade in chemistry.
"A lot of these kids had never had a lot of successes in school, and a lot of them get their first A's (the top grade) from me," said Kirmes, who is clearly proud of her accomplishments. "You can see progress in overall averages, in the way they do their homework regularly."
Difficult to maintain momentum
She acknowledges, however, that it is difficult to maintain the momentum and keep the students motivated.
"I knew a big part of my job would be to get them to be learners, and I recognise it's totally possible," she said.
Amy Black, who heads Washington's "Teach for America" chapter, said the organisation has been overwhelmed with the positive response it has gotten from university graduates seeking to take part in the program and has even had to turn some away.
"Last year, we had over 17 000 applicants for 2 000 positions," she told AFP.
She said the aim of the programme is to give students an equal chance, whether they are living in an upper-class neighbourhood in New York or a Los Angeles ghetto or an Indian reservation.
Teachers like Kirmes are given intensive training before embarking on their new professions, and they are supervised during their tenure.
While nationwide half of school teachers typically abandon the profession after five years, according to a recent study conducted by the National Education Association, the reverse is true for university graduates recruited by "Teach for America".
Black said that more than 60% of the recruits, who are paid normal salaries, choose to remain in the education system after two years and abandon their previous ambitions.
Those who leave use the experience as a plus on their resume.
"We've made this a prestigious, cool thing to do," Black said.