Dozens of National Guard Army and Air Force troops in New Mexico have been stepping into a different kind of emergency: the shortage of teachers and school staff members.
“When he started taking attendance, I was like, ‘whoa,’” said Lilli Terrazas, 15, of Alamogordo. “I was kind of nervous because, like, you know — a man in a uniform. But it was cool. He helped me.”
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, called out the guard to help with the acute shortages in a state that like several othershas struggled to find enough educators. At least 100 schools had reported closing down for at least one day this school year. “Everybody was enjoying their holiday and things like that, and then they came back and were sick,” said Raeh Burns, one of two Alamogordo High School secretaries tasked with filling teaching slots each morning. “I know I’m going to have Mr. Stockwell every morning and that he’s OK to go where I need him to go.”
Ultimately, Santa Fe and Albuquerque, two of the largest urban school districts, did not receive any soldiers despite their requests as the deployments have prioritized smaller and more rural school districts. Sierra already works with kids in her day job as a student coordinator at a military boarding school in Roswell, which has given her an edge as a substitute.At a middle school on Alamogordo's Holloman Air Force Base, students are used to seeing people in uniform, but not in classrooms.
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