VOA新闻杂志2022--国民警卫队士兵帮助学校解决教师短缺问题

National Guard Soldiers Help Schools with Teacher Shortage

In some parts of the United States, many teachers or their family members have tested positive for COVID-19. They must stay home from work. As a result, there are not enough fill-ins to take their place.

The fill-in teachers are called substitutes.

Early this year, in one part of Texas, the schools needed 455 substitutes in a single day. They usually need only 185.

To help with the lack of teachers, leaders in California, Connecticut, New Jersey¹ and Pennsylvania are asking retired² teachers to come back to work for a short time. In the states of Oklahoma and Utah, government workers are being asked to step in at schools.

This helps schools stay open, which experts say is better for children than staying at home as they did earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, in the southwestern state of New Mexico, some students are being welcomed in their classrooms by soldiers from the Army National Guard.

Michael Stockwell is one of those soldiers. During past military jobs, he watched part of the U.S. border with Mexico and worked to keep the New Mexico state Capitol safe.

Now, he is wearing his military uniform as he works with students as a substitute science teacher at Alamogordo High School.

When he works with teenagers, Stockwell said, he cannot "act Army." He said he needs to be careful with how he speaks with them.

Due to the teacher shortage in New Mexico, many members of the National Guard are now working in schools. In 36 of the state's 89 school zones, or districts, Guard members are working.

Stockwell said when he first arrived in his classroom wearing his military clothing, students thought he was only visiting. Then he sat down in the teacher's chair.

Lilli Terrazas is 15. She is in Stockwell's class.

"When he started taking attendance, I was like ‘whoa,'" she said. "But it was cool. He helped me."

About 80 soldiers are working in schools throughout the state. They all must pass security checks and take classes that all substitutes must take.

Most of the teachers do not have to be experts in their subjects, but they need to be willing to work with the students.

Stockwell started in late January.

New Mexico is dealing³ with a teacher shortage for two reasons: the coronavirus health crisis and recent teacher retirements⁴. The state usually has about 20,000 teachers. There are currently 1,000 openings.

The state's governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, said the use of the soldiers is only for a short time, and she is working to find new teachers. The state is offering better pay to find more teachers.

The problem reached its height at Alamogordo High School on January 13. About 30 percent of the teaching staff was out.

Raeh Burns works at the high school. One of her jobs is to make sure there are enough teachers each day. She said she knows Stockwell is "OK to go where I need him to go," each morning.

In some parts of the state, parents worried about having soldiers in the school. Parents in Santa Fe wondered if the soldiers would wear their uniforms and carry guns. A school spokesman said they never planned to carry guns and decided⁵ to have them wear regular clothing.

Some of the soldiers, however, choose to wear their military clothes because they are quite young. Cassandra Sierra is a guardswoman. She is 22. She said without her uniform, "I think I look like an 18-year-old."

When she is not working for the National Guard, Sierra works with students at a school where students live away from home. She said the experience helps during her work as a substitute. "Kids just need patience," she said. "I think I just have a lot of patience."

Another school in Alamogordo is on an Air Force base. Students there are used to seeing people in uniforms. However, they are not usually their teachers. Andrew George is 12. He said it was "awkward" at first. However, once he learned more about his teacher, who once led a group of soldiers overseas, he changed his mind. He said he thought: "oh yeah, this is going to be fun."

Amanda Zollo is the teacher. She helped the students learn about computer security.

The school's principal, Whitney Anderson, said Zollo's arrival meant she did not have to teach the class herself.

Words in This Story

positive – adj. showing the presence of a germ or condition

whoa – expression. used to show surprise

cool - adj. fashionable, stylish⁶ or appealing

uniform –n. a special kind of clothing worn by all members of a group such as an army or a team

patience –n. the ability to remain calm and not get upset when dealing with problems

awkward –adj. not easy to deal with

1 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 retirements   

退休( retirement的名词复数 )； 退职； 退役； 退休的实例

参考例句：

• We've had two retirements in our office this year. 今年我们办公室已有二人退休。
• Those may take the form of sackings redundancies, temporary layoffs or retirements. 这些形式有开除，作为编余人员，暂时解雇或退休。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。