Tri-County job fair offers education roles

A school, as anyone who has worked in one will tell you, is one of the best places to work. While the world of education is caught in a bit of a crossfire in the nation’s political landscape, schools still present an opportunity to make a difference and work in an upbeat environment.

Those thinking of pursuing a career in education or just someone interested in working in a school will be presented with a unique opportunity Saturday, April 11.

From 9 a.m. to noon that day, the Tri-County Educational Service Center will put on a job fair for those seeking opportunities.

“It’s probably the first time in a long time,” said Brett Lanz, a longtime school administrator and now director of operations for Tri-County ESC. “I don’t recall the last one we’ve done, and I’ve been in the Wayne County schools for all my career. The superintendents wanted to get together to try it.”

The three-hour event will be of interest to those seeking positions in or around the education profession including certified teachers (elementary and secondary and intervention specialists), tutors, small-group instructors, substitute teachers, support staff, bus drivers, food service, maintenance, and professionals including school counselors, psychologists, speech-language pathologists and nurses.

Triway High School will host the job fair. Anyone from anywhere can stop by, be it serious job seekers, curious information seekers or those in hiring roles who might be able to point them in a good direction.

Reports of a nationwide teacher shortage claim up to half-a-million jobs are either vacant or filled by underqualified or uncertified staff members throughout the United States. That varies greatly by area, and in the tri-county area, the problem doesn’t seem as bad as others.

Part of the national shortage is a product of a mass exodus in the field, especially by early-career teachers. Another part is a lack of candidates. The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and the National Center for Educational Studies say the number of college graduates with bachelor’s degrees in education has decreased nearly by half since 1970, even as the number of overall graduates has nearly quadrupled.

Some of that has been because of the lack of extrinsic benefits. The intrinsic ones remain, and Lanz believes they are as strong as ever.

“Compensation and benefits, those things all matter as you decide careers,” he said. “Most of us, when we start, probably went in and were more mission-minded, wanting to give back what we got. I don’t know that that’s drastically different from 20-30 years ago in other professions.”

Lanz said if area districts have needs, they’re in more specialized areas, like math and science and even preschool.

“Some of your specific high school jobs are hard to find (teachers for),” he said. “There’s a pretty good pool out there of early elementary teachers, but preschool is sometimes missed too. I think you’ll find there’s some positions schools aren’t filling because of some funding things. You always have those that you have to fill, and some are harder.”

Support staff, on the other hand, seems to be a problem in most areas. The National Education Association says staffing has been an issue since prepandemic years and continues to be one. This is in part why a job fair like the one the ESC is hosting can be useful. It puts a lot of job openings in one place.

“I don’t know that there’ll be tons of openings,” Lanz said. “But there are always certain ones that are harder to find. Every school is always looking for bus drivers.”

The fair will allow interested professionals to mingle with district superintendents, principals and other supervisors. Interested applicants should bring copies of their résumés and are encouraged to bring their calendars as formal interviews may be scheduled during the job fair.

Lanz said while it’s not the goal, it’s entirely possible someone attending the job fair could walk out the door with an offer in hand.

“I’d say that’s possible, yes,” he said. “It was kind of meant to be an open meet-and-greet format. We did a smaller version at Hillsdale last year. It’s about meeting the right people, supervisors and administrators that will be there. There can be an on-the-fly meeting (that results in a job). I can see it if there was the right connection and the right credentials and opportunity.”

There’s an old joke that says the best three things about teaching are June, July and August. And while that’s certainly a benefit — though not as much as most people think as many teachers work through the summer to make ends meet because teacher pay continues to lag behind that in most fields where higher education is a required credential — just being in a learning environment can make a gig in school pleasurable.

Another is being around young people and bright minds in a place where discovery is taking place all around you every day.

“Of course, I’m biased because I’ve never known anything different,” Lanz said. “My whole life has revolved around a school year. There’s just something about being around a school community in a community, whether you grew up there or not, and seeing kids go through and succeed. You can listen to a lot of bad press, but I think there’s still plenty of opportunity to excel and make a difference and teach.”

Triway is located at 3205 Shreve Road, about 5 miles southwest of Wooster. The Tri-County ESC serves Wayne, Holmes and Ashland counties, providing support in professional development, administrative services, enhanced educational services for students, curriculum development and programming, and fiscal management.

For more information on the job fair, call or email Lanz at 330-345-6772 ext. 272 or tesc_blanz@tccsa.net.