District plans recruit more educators specialized in career-tech

As technology continues to evolve, it’s no doubt students within the Churchill County School District are a crucial aspect to generations ahead, as well as the educators to impact lives.

The Churchill County School District Board of Trustees approved to offer a Career and Technical Education exploratory class for eighth graders at Churchill County Middle School, and focus on hiring teachers throughout the district specialized in field during national career fairs.

As an elective, there will be 12, three-week exploratory classes for students to choose from, all focusing on Career Technical Education opportunities, which includes guest speakers from technical industries.

“Transitioning students know they’re going into the workforce,” said CTE Coordinator Kristina Carey. “We believe it will give students an idea of what we have available at the high school so they can make a decision sooner.”

Executive Director of Churchill Economic Development Authority Nate Strong attended in support of the CTE elective.

“We see this as the ideal conversion in workforce development,” he said. “It’s a critical time to give students these opportunities.”

After school clubs and activities involving tech education also is in high demand by students; according to a student survey conducted by CCMS, 65 percent of students are interested in hands-on projects.

But with a teacher shortage affecting the country overall — and cities such as Fallon estimated to grow in population within the next five years — the district is preparing to recruit new potential candidates from at least nine states, especially those who specialize in the CTE field.

Gregg Malkovich, recruiter and Principal of Lahontan Elementary School, presented a schedule at the board meeting Feb. 14 of career fairs located at several universities across the country, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, Montana, and Oregon. The University of Nevada, Reno, also is included in the list.

Malkovich said the following locations were chosen based off of recruitment results from other districts in the state, as most candidates were hired from the areas. The district will makes its debut at its first job fair of the year Feb. 26 at Northern Arizona University in Phoenix.

Trustees also approved the New Teacher Hire Incentive of $6,000 for the 2018-19 school year; $4,000 is paid within 10 business days of the first day of work and $2,000 for staff returning, for licensed teachers.

For the current school year, the district was awarded $129,000 in state funds for new hire teacher incentives. The district hired 31 new teachers and one speech theorist, exceeding funding from the state. The additional funds were paid from the district’s general fun, as budgeted.

However, the board declined applications for the Early Retirement Incentive Program, due to the district’s teacher shortage.