As an educator Georgia Murphy built a career challenging young minds. For 38 years she challenged students to be creative thinkers. Teach For America, an “alternate route” teacher training program, is the latest beneficiary of Murphy’s love for teaching. Recently, Murphy donated the teaching materials she accumulated throughout her career to Teach For America at its training institute at Delta State University.
Six years ago Murphy retired from teaching and now resides in Starkville after spending the majority of her teaching career in the Jackson Public Schools. During her career, Murphy taught at several grade levels, K-12, as well as university adjunct instruction.
“I’ve always had a passion for teaching,” said Murphy. “After retiring, I thought I would return to teaching at some level, but that hasn’t happened. When I read an article about the Teach For America training institute at Delta State, I thought the program offered a perfect opportunity for me to contribute.”
During her career, Murphy collected and maintained an extensive inventory of teaching materials. “I looked at everything I’ve collected over the years and realized there is hundreds of dollars worth of training materials that these teachers might put to good use,” she said.
Murphy contacted Dr. Michelle Roberts, vice president for University Relations at Delta State, to inquire about contributing to the Teach For America program.
“We have received a lot of calls about Teach For America, but this call was very different from the others,” said Roberts. “I was excited when Ms. Murphy asked about donating her teaching materials to TFA. It is refreshing to see the eagerness of a veteran teacher wanting to share her knowledge and experiences with these bright young people who are preparing to enter the teaching field. It is obvious that Ms. Murphy has a passion for helping others, and I am glad Delta State was able to serve as a catalyst for helping her share her wealth of resources with Teach For America.”
After learning more about Teach For America, Murphy loaded her vehicle and made the two-hour trek from Starkville to Cleveland. “Teach For America is such an innovative and exciting program and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to continue contributing to education by donating these materials,” she said.
"We are very appreciative of Ms. Murphy’s generous donation, said Tim Hughes, senior managing director for the Teach For America Delta Institute. "Often times, one of the many challenges new teachers face is having to create materials for their students from scratch or spending a great deal of time searching for teaching resources. Because of Ms. Murphy’s contribution, this barrier will be eliminated for many of our teachers."
“I always have been, and always will be, excited about teaching,” she said. “My hope is the materials I’ve contributed will help spark ideas in the minds of these new teachers and, in turn, spark ideas in their students.”
