Any student who is interested in becoming an educator is invited to the Teacher Career Fair at 4 p.m. Thursday in the International Ballroom of the Bruce Pitman Center.
John Mangiantini, assistant director for internships and employer relations, said the Teacher Career Fair exists to match aspiring educators with the school districts in need.
“It’s well executed, and if the students would show up, it’d be a great opportunity,” Mangiantini said. “Because there are school districts here that are starving for talent and (students) have got the talent they are looking for.”
He said the fair is primarily for seniors graduating in the College of Education, but it is open to anybody considering a career as an educator.
“If you’re a history major or science major of some sort and you’re interested in K-12, there’s master’s in teaching out there,” Mangiantini said.
The degree can be obtained in three semesters, Mangiantini said, which would help fill the teacher shortage in Idaho.
He said the purpose of a land grant university like UI is to train people to work in the state, but said many people leave Idaho after graduating.
“So we train teachers up, getting them fully qualified as well as any school in the region and then because the rate of pay is much higher in Washington and Oregon and even Montana, a lot of our students are trained here and go out of state to work,” Mangiantini said.
Director of Teacher Education Taylor Raney said school various Idaho school districts will be represented along with other school districts from as far as Las Vegas and Anchorage, Alaska. Education students from Washington State University and Lewis-Clark State College are invited as well.
Raney said rural school districts are especially hurt by the teacher shortage.
“Not everybody thinks about going to smaller towns in Idaho,” Raney said “When they’re meeting with people those districts can say, ‘Hey, here’s what we offer as far as a lifestyle.’ It’s a really positive experience.”
Mangiantini said while all educators are in demand in Idaho, special education and STEM teachers are an especially hot commodity in the education job market.
“I watched a special education instructor and all the employers chased her around the room. She had six to seven job offers when she walked out of that room,” Mangiantini said. “STEM and special ed — you can’t find enough of them.”
Raney said Career Services and the College of Education partnered with the Idaho Professional Standards Commission to bring in more school districts from the state by covering the $50 fee to attend the fair as a recruiter.
Raney said it is an opportunity for underclassmen to build relationships and find out what they need to do to better themselves. He also said it is an opportunity for graduating seniors to secure jobs.
“If you ever thought about teaching at the end of of your educational career and even if you’re not a student in the College of Education, come talk to me,” Raney said. “You can do a master’s in education in just about year if you do some summer work.”
Jack Olson can be reached at [email protected]