Taught by AmericaTaught by America

After graduating from Yale University, Sarah Sentilles joined the Teach for America program and began a two-year assignment as an elementary school teacher in Compton, California. Far from the hallowed halls of academe and the suburban streets where she grew up, in charge of thirty-six first graders in a classroom without books, Sentilles experienced her own kind of education. Taught by America is the story of the children Sentilles taught-but more than that, it_s a story of one woman_s change of heart and life.Through moving portraits of inspiring children, Sentilles takes the reader with her on her heartbreaking journey, as she learns about a failing school system, the true meaning of poverty in America, and the strength children exhibit even when they_re struggling to survive. Sentilles originally joined Teach for America as a break between undergraduate and graduate school. What she didn_t expect was that the children of Compton would change her utterly: instead of going on to graduate school in literature, she decided to study for the ministry. Beautifully written, charged with love and indignation, Taught by America is a powerful tribute to the young lives Sentilles witnessed. She was transformed by what she saw in Compton; Taught by America will transform her readers as well.