{"id":44426,"date":"2022-02-17T10:42:09","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T10:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/02\/17\/national-guard-deploys-for-new-emergency-teacher-shortages\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:57:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:57:06","slug":"national-guard-deploys-for-new-emergency-teacher-shortages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2022\/02\/17\/national-guard-deploys-for-new-emergency-teacher-shortages\/","title":{"rendered":"National Guard deploys for new emergency: Teacher shortages"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On past deployments Army National Guard<\/a> Spc. Michael Stockwell surveilled a desolate section of the U.S.-Mexico border during a migrant surge, and guarded a ring of checkpoints and fences around New Mexico\u2019s state Capitol after the January 2021 insurrection in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On his current mission, Stockwell helps students with assignments as a substitute science teacher at Alamogordo High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t act Army with these kids. You can\u2019t speak the same way you would with another soldier with these kids. You can\u2019t treat them the same way. You have to be careful with corrective actions,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dozens of National Guard Army and Air Force troops in New Mexico have been stepping in for an emergency unlike others they have responded to before: the shortage of teachers and school staff members<\/a> that has tested the ability of schools nationwide to continue operating during the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While many other states and school districts issued pleas for substitute teachers amid omicron-driven surges in infections, New Mexico has been alone in calling out its National Guard members. In 36 of the state\u2019s 89 school districts, guard members have traded in mission briefs for lesson plans to work for school systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Stockwell first walked into the freshman science class, wearing camouflage fatigues and combat boots, some students thought he was just visiting, like a recruiter. Then he took a seat in the teacher\u2019s chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen he started taking attendance, I was like, \u2018whoa,\u2019\u201d said Lilli Terrazas, 15, of Alamogordo. \u201cI was kind of nervous because, like, you know \u2014 a man in a uniform. But it was cool. He helped me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t