Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham this week completed her first day as a volunteer substitute teacher, just prior to attending an important conference in Washington.
On Thursday, Jan. 27, Lujan Grisham traveled to Washington to attend the annual Winter Meeting of the National Governors Association, according to a news release. Lujan Grisham, who serves on the association's executive committee, is expected to return Monday, Jan. 31.
Lujan Grisham spent the day prior as a volunteer teacher in a Santa Fe kindergarten, only days after she called on the state's national Guard and state employees to do the same.
In a Facebook post after class was let out, Lujan Grisham said she "was glad to be one of many state employees and National Guard members around the state volunteering as substitutes in classrooms across New Mexico."
"Together we are supporting educators, students, and families and keeping schools open safely," she continued in her Facebook post. "Interested in helping out? We encourage eligible New Mexicans to support their local communities by getting licensed as a substitute teacher: https://webnew.ped.state.nm.us/we-need-you/"
The link leads to a webpage for the New Mexico Public Education Department's Supporting Teachers and Families (STAF). Lujan announced the STAF initiative in the same news release in which she encouraged New Mexico National Guard members and state employees to sign up to be substitute teachers.
STAF encourages volunteers to become licensed as substitute pre-K-12 teachers and/or child care workers and then go to work "as needed to keep doors open for in-person learning and child care," the Jan. 19 news release said.
Volunteers in the STAF initiative must fulfill the same requirements as non-volunteer substitute teachers and child care workers, including passing background check and completing an online substitute teaching workshop.
"Our schools are a critical source of stability for our kids – we know they learn better in the classroom and thrive among their peers," Lujan Grisham said in the Jan. 19 news release. "Our kids, our teachers and our parents deserve as much stability as we can provide during this time of uncertainty, and the state stands ready to help keep kids in the classroom, parents able to go to work and teachers able to fully focus on the critical work they do every single day in educating the next generation."
