GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — For the third year, members of Grand Rapids Public Schools will be conducting teacher interviews in Puerto Rico starting Thursday. The hiring event is part of an ongoing special project that works to ease the ongoing teacher shortage, while also expanding the district’s presence of bilingual educators.
GRPS currently has under 300 vacancies, with about 70 of them being teaching positions, the district’s diversity recruitment and retention manager Adriana Almanza said, later adding that their greatest needs are in the field of math, science and special education.
Evelyn Ortiz, a contracted recruiter for GRPS, said that the efforts start with maintaining a relationship with Puerto Rico’s universities, churches and Department of Education.
“We know that the impact of all the work that the district has been doing to support this effort is huge,” Ortiz said.
Since the initiative began, the district has only hired two employees, but both educators have since stayed in West Michigan.
Cindy Rivera is an assistant principal at Dickson Elementary and Charlotte Cabello Rivera is a science teacher at Southwest Middle High School’s bilingual academy and is on track to become a principal.
“They love it,” Ortiz said. “There's an actual video of them highlighting the benefits of staying here, or being able to be accepted and providing what they have.
“It's love – it's passion. It's that intent of seeing them grow … As a teacher, they'll say, ‘Wow, I've never thought I was capable of doing this.’ They are trusted, they are listened to, and they have so much to offer.”
Though there isn’t a set goal of how many teachers they expect to hire while in the cities of San Juan and Ponce, Ortiz said even bringing a single educator back to West Michigan can make all the difference.
“It is a success even if we bring one,” she said.
The hiring event runs through Tuesday, March 28. More information can be found here.
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