Teacher Morale and Wellness

The new lurking crisis on staffing requires diagnosis and action, not one-off appreciation gestures

In January 2020, Georgeanne Warnock was an excited first-time superintendent who had big plans for an incredible entry into her school district. But 65 days later, a global pandemic forced her schools and others across the nation to close. Warnock fearlessly led her staff through the year that followed and, like many others, was hopeful the 2021-22 school year would be better.

As the past year started, Warnock’s team was all-in on supporting her teachers in the 5,000-student Terrell Independent School District outside of Dallas, Texas. She and her two deputy superintendents delivered Sonic drinks to each classroom, shared messages of gratitude with school staff and found other ways to show appreciation.

But during a teacher advisory session, a sweet teacher shared that while she loved the kind gestures, the reality was that there were three people with doctoral degrees delivering drinks while she and her colleagues were doubled up with classes and losing conference periods because the staffing shortages were so immense.

Warnock jumped into action and sent many of her central-office administrators onto campuses to fill in as classroom substitutes. A former English and social studies teacher, she included herself, devoting one day a week to subbing. She began to chronicle her experiences as a substitute teacher on TikTok with the handle of the @subbingsupt, amassing more than 42,000 followers.

The things Warnock learned while subbing were invaluable. She asked the teachers once where the ice machine was located. They chuckled and shared that it was broken. She asked how long it had been broken, and they said three years. She asked how to make photocopies and learned there were limits on copying paper. And she saw first-hand the challenges of student behavior. “I heard all of this,” she said, “but I didn’t really get it until I was back in the classroom.”