Twenty years in the field, 1,800 corps members reaching more than 250,000 Houston students — Teach for America had plenty to celebrate at its annual fundraising dinner, held at the Hilton Americas-Houston.

No small part of the celebratory mood was the fact that $1.29 million was raised, almost double last year's proceeds.

Close to 1,000 Teach for America alumni have remained in the Houston area after their two-year stints teaching in under-resourced schools and a few of those individuals were in attendance.

Teach for America alumn Dave Crumbine (a 1997 corps member currently teaching at KIPP Academy) moved the entire ballroom of 800 guests with the story of his relationship with one of his young Rusk Elementary students to whom he had become a father figure. That young man, Joe Alaniz, joined Crumbine on the stage to share what it meant for him to have a Teach for America teacher in his life.

Current Teach for America member Morgan Russell Williams, a science teacher at Cesar E. Chavez High School, made a diary presentation. During her first year in the program, she led her students to substantial academic gains in anatomy and physiology. She was just named a 2011-2012 National Science Teacher Academy Fellow, which means she will collaborate with science teachers around the nation to improve instructional practices.

Adding further weight to the inspirational program, Teach for America founder Wendy Kopp flew in from headquarters in New York to address the gathering.

The evening was chaired by Janet Clark and Cathy and Paul Chapman. Taking bows as honorees were 1991-2011 Teach for America board chairs Chip Cureton, Michael Dee, Dine Glasgow, Anne Mendelsohn, Josephine Smith and current chair Lori Vetters.