by Isai Carmona | sports editor 

NEISD and various other districts are experiencing faculty shortages after a nation-wide rise in COVID-19 cases. They have taken action by raising substitute teacher pay. Regardless, schools have been welcoming new faces.

Blake Ash, a recent graduate from the University of Texas at San Antonio, just became a substitute and is hoping for a career at the secondary school level.  

“The reason I took the job was because I wanted to become a teacher and I heard this is a great way to get in,” Ash said. “I just graduated college last December at UTSA with a Modern languages: focused in Japanese major. I’m planning on teaching Japanese, but also planning on getting certified in other subjects like ESL, hopefully English, and PE maybe.”

Even with a rapid influx of new subs, the district is remaining consistent in background checks.   

“The application process, I don’t really know how many weeks or months it took but my experience was pretty quick,” Ash said. “It was actually relatively quick, after I got everything in, they got back to me pretty quickly,” Ash said.  

Still, Ash has found his experience substituting more welcoming than challenging.

“Everything is pretty smooth, the biggest challenge was finding a job in this system specifically; usually they kind of go really quick,” Ash said. “So far, after college, the most nerve racking thing I have experienced is just kind of getting back into the high school life, but this time as a substitute teacher instead of a student.”