Page 20 - CMB FEB 18 2022

A27
U S NEWS Diabierna 18 Februari 2022

National Guard deploys for new emergency: Teacher shortages

(AP) — On past deployments Army National
Guard Spc. Michael Stockwell surveilled a
desolate section of the U.S.-Mexico border
during a migrant surge, and guarded a ring of
checkpoints and fences around New Mexico’s
state Capitol after the January 2021 insurrec-
tion in Washington.

On his current mission, Stockwell helps students
with assignments as a substitute science teacher at
Alamogordo High School.

Dozens of National Guard Army and Air Force
troops in New Mexico have been stepping in for
an emergency unlike others they have responded
to before: the shortage of teachers and school staff
members that has tested the ability of schools na-
tionwide to continue operating during the corona-

virus pandemic. had reported closing down for at in her day job as a student co-
least one day this school year. ordinator at a military boarding
“Dios ta amor... y amor ta While many other states and school in Roswell, which has
Dios, maske mi no ta na e school districts issued pleas for New Mexico saw a surge of given her an edge as a substitute.
mundo aki, tur dia lo mi ta substitute teachers amid omi- teacher retirements last fall,
banda di boso Curazon, mi por
stens di loke Señor ta hasi” cron-driven surges in infections, and there are currently around At a middle school on Al-
Salmo 33 New Mexico has been alone in 1,000 open teaching positions in amogordo’s Holloman Air Force
calling out its National Guard a state with about 20,000 teach- Base, students are used to seeing
Cu dolor na nos curason, nos members. In 36 of the state’s 89 ers. Grisham stressed the guard people in uniform, but not in
ta participa fayecimento di nos school districts, guard members deployment is a temporary mea- classrooms.
ser stima: have traded in mission briefs for sure and state officials are work-
lesson plans to work for school ing to bolster the teaching force The substitute, Lt. Amanda
Rosarita Wiersma-Morel systems. and school staff through in- Zollo, works in the 911 dispatch
creased pay and other strategies.
center in Albuquerque when
*04-08-1932 - †13-02-2022 When Stockwell first walked she’s not training or serving with
into the freshman science class, At Alamogordo High School, the guard. She kept students on
Acto di entiero lo wordo anuncia despues
wearing camouflage fatigues and the teacher shortage peaked on task during a lesson about cyber-
combat boots, some students Jan. 13, when 30 teachers, about security, as they created and then
thought he was just visiting, like a third of the teaching staff, were attempted to break each other’s
a recruiter. Then he took a seat out due to illness, professional passwords.
in the teacher’s chair. training, or family emergencies.
She was subbing for a teacher
Roughly 80 service members In some communities, there who was having trouble finding
have volunteered to work in have been concerns raised about childcare. The principal, Whit-
schools. The troops have gone soldiers going in classrooms. In ney Anderson, said that hav-
through background checks and Santa Fe, the school district was ing Zollo’s services meant that
taken brief courses required for asked if soldiers would wear for the first time that week she
substitute teachers. As substi- uniforms and carry guns, school didn’t have to take over a class-
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: tutes, they don’t have to learn district spokesperson Cody Dy- room herself.
He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth much about curriculum, but narski said. Guns were always
my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness they need to be attentive to stu- out of the question. The district Zollo doesn’t talk about her
for His name’s sake. dents. decided that soldiers would wear work as an infantry officer with
civilian clothing. her students, which, after a ner-
With deep sorrow we announce the passing of our Stockwell has been filling in vous laugh, she describes as “en-
beloved: since late January when his Ultimately, Santa Fe and Albu- gaging with and destroying the
students’ teacher moved to an querque, two of the largest ur- enemies of the U.S. in close-
administrative role in another ban school districts, did not re- quarter combat.”
school. One recent day, he shuf- ceive any soldiers despite their
fled through the rows of school requests as the deployments
desks, kneeling to meet students have prioritized smaller and
eye-to-eye as he helped them more rural school districts.
with assignments calculating the
depth of the earth’s crust, and Elsewhere, when given the
other layers of the planet. choice, some soldiers have opted
for military fatigues over civil-
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a ian clothes to command respect
Democrat, called out the guard in the classroom, particularly
Shirley Sylvia van Heyningen-Raymond to help with the acute shortages if they’re not much older than
*29-01-1938 †16-02-2022 in a state that like several oth- their students.
Condolence and funeral date will be announced later ers has struggled to find enough
educators. At least 100 schools Sierra already works with kids