KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Monday was the first day of class for a group of teachers who have dedicated themselves to changing young lives.

In room 206 at Franklin Elementary School on Highland Avenue, first-year teacher Katie Robinson readied her classroom for students. Robinson is one of 50 new teachers in the Kansas City, Mo., School District who are part of the national Teach for America program.

Alicia Herald, Teach for America executive director of the Kansas City branch of the program, said the group is made up of recent college graduates and young professionals from diverse academic backgrounds that have each committed two years to the program. "They absolutely believe they can eliminate the achievement gap in Kansas City," said Herald.

Herald said that 40 percent of the new teachers placed in kindergarten through high school classrooms around the district are from the metropolitan area.

New teacher Jeff Baum attended Lee's Summit High School, then graduated from Columbia University in New York. "This is a chance for me to come back and make sure other people have those same opportunities," he said.

Baum is now a high school freshman English teacher in the city's new high school, Van Horn at East.

"There's an opportunity to create a new culture, a new environment. A lot of us are really excited. The traditions we can start, the mood, the tone we can set," Baum said.

The district pays the corp members for their service commitment in the program. Teach for America offers the corp members education loan help.