Substitute Resources

Substitute Resources
NEWS & UPDATES

May 2007 News and Updates

Well, there’s no other way to say this: for those of you looking for substitute jobs April was simply abysmal – we recorded fewer jobs last month than in the previous five Aprils. Several substitutes called wondering where all the work went, we wondered too. We think the drop in substitute assignments was linked to WASL testing. Teachers don’t like to leave their students during testing and departments avoid planning meetings during those weeks. While we applaud and endorse this commitment to our students, we also want to see you guys working! Our hope is that we’ll have a typical rock and roll, hectic May which will have all of you industriously subbing your fingers to the bone (figuratively speaking, of course). At this point though the Substitute Office soothsayers are reluctant to make any kind of prediction for May’s potential substitute activity, we think you can anticipate more calls this month than last.

Fair Warning Department: Should things start hopping around here we’ll set our call out time ahead to begin morning calling at 5:30 am. Yes, we know just how brutally early 5:30 in the morning, but we are relentless when it comes to getting our jobs filled. Kate will be in early on those mornings too, so she’ll be feeling your pain … and her own!

Spokane Public Summer School is still hiring! If you are interested in teaching summer school this year it is not too late to contact Human Resources. If you’d like more information, please contact our Applicant Specialists Cindy Blair (354-7262) or Terri LeFors (354-5985)

While we’re on the subject of jobs, the hiring season is coming up soon. Please remember to let us know if you are hired outside of Spokane Public Schools so that we can remove you from our substitute mailings (and you won’t get SubFinder calls next fall). The classiest way to inform your employer (that’s us) that they have lost the opportunity to hire a top notch candidate (that’s you) is to send that employer a letter of resignation stating that you’ve been hired elsewhere. Our address is 200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201-0282.

We got a call this week from a very unhappy substitute who had a disagreeable experience at one of our schools last month. While our sub sat in the teachers lounge during her lunch, a regular classroom teacher burst into the room and erupted into a rant about the ineptitude of substitute teachers! Our substitute was shocked, affronted and aggrieved and we can certainly understand why. Our very best substitutes (and that would include those of you who make a habit of checking the delightful Substitute News and Updates every month) are caring, committed and concerned educators who devote countless hours to our schools and who regularly put effort into their continuing growth as educators (and on their own time too!) That’s one of the many reasons that over a third of our new employees in Spokane Public Schools are hired from the Substitute List! Your substitute office gets really grouchy when folks don’t recognize just how terrific you guys are at this very challenging job. We are proud of the great work that you do, so, just in case nobody else has said it to you recently: thanks, you’re a hero!

We have only two orientations left for new substitutes this school year. These are by invitation only for new hires, but if you’ve been on the sub list for a while and are looking for a refresher, please feel free to drop in.

DATE DAY	TIME	LOCATION
May 8 Tuesday	4:15	Administration Building Lobby Conference Room
May 22 Tuesday	4:15	Administration Building Lobby Conference Room

There isn’t usually time in May to wax nostalgic over the end of another school year, but your sub office staff has recently had the opportunity to act as a chaperone on a high school trip to the Eastern Washington Music Educators Association State competition. We got a little misty looking at these magnificent children traveling toward adulthood. We were impressed at the courage our kids showed, at their compassion for others, and their delight in celebrating excellence – their own and others. It gave us hope, and that’s a great thing to have in a troubled world. You are all a part of that, because you are a part of their education and we thank you.

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