AMHERST, N.Y. — On Wednesday, Amherst Central Schools held a substitute recruitment fair. It is something it has done for the past five years.
The Amherst Central School District is actively recruiting for all positions, helping them find potential future talent.
"Aides, assistants, laborers, cleaners. You name it, we're looking for folks across all different areas of work in the Amherst school district to be part of our family," said Michael Belle-Isle, Assistant Superintendent for Student and Staff Services at the Amherst Central School District.
This recruitment fair brought in about fifty people interested in substitute teaching in just a few hours.
"Fantastic experience and you get paid to do it working towards something you love," said Michael Belle-Isle.
For substitutes, there are certified and uncertified positions.
"For uncertified teachers, it's often folks who just haven't reached their diploma or their degree yet, or they're just entering the field of education," said Michael Belle-Isle.
If you are uncertified, you are limited on how many days you can work each year. Substitutes really helped the district during COVID-19.
"To some degree during the pandemic, there was some time where they were remote so we didn't have as much need, but in Amherst, we were lucky to bring many of our kids back in a reasonable amount of time, and they got a great chance to spend time with kids during a pandemic which was a very challenging time to find student-teaching placements and work," said Michael Belle-Isle.
The district says typical substitute teachers are just entering the education field and looking to gain experience.
"You get your student-teaching and some of those experiences sometimes, sometimes they're often aides and assistants working their way up through the world of teaching and learning, however, the time in the classroom is invaluable," said Michael Belle-Isle.
Some are retired, moving here from other states, or changing careers. But more than anything, the Amherst Central School District is hoping to attract people who care about the students.
"Motivated, engaging, hard-working, and passionate about doing what's right for kids," said Michael Belle-Isle.
While Amherst is getting a great response and getting people in the system, many other districts are also recruiting.
If you go to the Buffalo Public Schools website, you will see that to be a sub there you have to have a Bachelor's degree. There is also a pay chart showing you can make anywhere from $121 to $149 a day depending on whether you are uncertified or certified and how many days you've worked as a sub.
Generally, you can apply for these jobs online across Western New York. You can also expect a background check and to be fingerprinted to work with kids.
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