There's a crisis in the classroom when it comes to finding teachers. Schools are taking all the steps they can to try to have enough educators to get by. Monday, it meant renting out the Esports Stadium in Arlington and calling on people who don't even have a background in education to help.
"We're welcoming people that have a heart for kids, if you want to see kids grow, then we want you in our schools," said Marcy Hambrick, Human Resources Director of Lovejoy ISD.
It's a want but also a desperate need as the number of teacher vacancies reaches all-time highs nationwide. A combination of everything from low pay, and political rhetoric attacking teachers to a long-standing view that being a teacher wasn't something to aim for. It's not all bad news, though.
"I love it because my background is in music and so I'm looking to be a choir teacher, that's what I want to be right now," said Raquel Solis.
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Solis majored and trained in music and always thought teaching was something she might enjoy.
She started substituting and realized it was her jam.
"I find it really rewarding. I find it really emotional, it's hard to not tear up when I'm teaching kids and I see them learn and be able to harmonize, it's just the most rewarding thing to me," said Solis.
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School leaders say job fairs haven't been well attended. Individual districts sometimes have no one show. Only 40 people had registered for this mega fair as of Friday morning, but that number blossomed over the weekend.
People like Jason Middlebrooks showed up. He's not a trained educator but knew the need and felt compelled to help young men in his community.
"You have a responsibility to be a leader to those kids, to be like, there's someone like you that can do this, someone with your background," said Middlebrooks.
Whatever the reason, schools are there with open arms, ready not just to take people willing to teach, but to mentor and grow them into good teachers.
