GREENSBORO, N.C. — With 120 teaching vacancies in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and 78 teaching vacancies in Alamance-Burlington School System, it’s no secret that for the past few years, teacher vacancies have been at some of the highest numbers yet, and while there is no quick solution, NCA&T is focusing on a specific part of the problem – recruiting male teachers.
"The Department of Educator Preparation at A&T, we are hosting 200 males around the state as well as Texas, to bring them here for a male recruitment event, particularly in education. As many of you know, education has a shortage and we really need males in education," said Dr. Brian Williams, an associate professor at the College of Education at A&T.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, male teachers only make up 24% of public educators in a 2017-18 study. Events like these at A&T are meant to encourage young men to consider the field of education.
"After I got my business degree, I said, “No, I need to go make a difference!”, I wasn’t finding fulfillment in business, so I went into education so I could be that change agent to change the trajectory as well as the narrative for what Black men or Black males are like within the field of education," Williams said.
Williams knows personally how fulfilling the path of teaching can be and wants to shatter any negative stigma by showing the important impact a teacher can have.
"What we are trying to do is shine a light on all the positive things we can bring to students and what education can do for males and actually what they can bring to students as far as trajectory, achievement, better disciplinary action outcomes, actually changing the lives of their own community. Just being change agents," said Williams.
Some of those change agents, current 5th grade teacher and Aggie alum, Adrian Hairston, and A&T Freshman, Dominik Alston, have seen it first-hand.
"Education is so important to me because it really has made me who I am today, so growing up here in Greensboro, North Carolina, and having a teacher who saw the best in me and helped me get to where I need to be, I just feel like I need to do that for the next person," Hairston said.
"I had plenty of coaches, teachers that really – that really helped me become the man I am today and I feel like that’s really needed as a role model for young men," Alston said.
Male teachers like these can spark an interest in those young men sitting in that crowd -- potential teachers for the next generation.