CAPE CORAL, Fla. -- With school starting in less than a week for several counties in Southwest Florida, Fox 4 checked in with Cape Coral teachers to see how they are preparing for success this school year.
Patriot Elementary School welcomed new Pre-K ESE teacher Sarah Vogelbach, Friday, as she put the finishing touches on her classroom. "I'm so excited! I was anxious all summer to get in here and start getting ready for the school year," she said. "All summer I just looked for fun, creative ideas for them because they're still young and you want to find things they're going to enjoy."
Vogelbach's passion for teaching started when she was a little girl. After interning with Patriot Elementary's Life Skills Pre-K class, she new she wanted to make an impact on students with special needs. "I completely changed my mind, and I knew I wanted to teach ESE," she said.
With a national drop in people wanting to become teachers, several districts in Florida, including Lee County, need qualified and passionate individuals like Vogelbach to fill teacher vacancies.
Lee County has 34 vacancies as of Friday, although school officials state every classroom has someone in place to start the school year. The Lee County student population is growing by roughly 1,600 students each year.
Principal Jami Browder hired Vogelbach after working with her during Vogelbach's internship. She encourages other educators to look into Lee County as well. "It's a great place to be. I grew up in Lee County, I went to Lee County schools, and I came back to work here because it's a wonderful environment," she said.
The district is using a number of methods to recruit teachers to work in Lee County, including fairs held at the District, online fairs, out of state recruiting fairs, cold calling and targeted recruitment.
