KinderMission Academy in Greensboro hopes their job fair Tuesday will entice more people to enter the profession.
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Editors Note: The attached video is from a previous story on childcare stabilization grants in North Carolina.
KinderMission Academy in Greensboro is hosting a job fair Tuesday in the hopes of attracting more people to the early childhood education field, which has seen issues with staffing throughout the pandemic.
“Usually when you go to a job fair we are competing against much bigger companies,” said KinderMission Academy director Betsy Rodriguez. “People think: ‘do I want to work in a child care facility?’ We don’t just take care of children, we are educating children to be future leaders.”
The job fair is Tuesday, March 22 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Rehobeth United Methodist Church at 4475 Rehobeth Church Rd. in Greensboro.
Rodriguez said the job fair is the first of its kind in the area. About 16 child care providers will be there to answer questions and discuss open positions.
“It was a big risk at first,” Rodriguez said. “We were concerned about what if we take other teachers? But the goal is not to take existing teachers the goal is specifically to find new teachers: someone who wants to learn about early childhood educators, understand how much fun it is, and how rewarding it is.”
The event is free for participants. Attending childcare facilities paid a fee that will benefit the KinderMission Foundations internship program. Students from Ragsdale High School’s child care credential course are able to come to KinderMission Academy and intern. About 12 students intern per semester and Rodriguez said three have become full staff members.
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The pandemic was difficult for many child care providers trying to recruit and retain staff.
“People were scared of getting COVID and, rightfully so, but what we did here for our center specifically (is) we were able to provide teachers with a weekly COVID test just to give them peace of mind but many centers couldn’t do that,” Rodriguez said.
In 2021, $805 million was made available for childcare providers across North Carolina through the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act.
“We are able to provide raises and bonuses for teachers so this is a way for us to be able to maintain the teachers that we do have but then also attract quality teachers as well,” Rodriguez said.
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