A fundraising campaign conducted in late 2021 produced enough funds for nonprofit IDEA Public Schools in Tarrant County to hire 8 flex teacher positions with full salary and benefits.
Tarrant County, like most of the country, is facing a shortage of qualified substitute teachers who are able to step in and cover for teachers who are on vacation, out due to COVID-19 exposure or other illness, or dealing with an emergency. IDEA partnered with local sandwich institution Galligaskin’s Submarines Restaurant and Catering on a Substitute Teacher Campaign to help address the issue.
The Gift-a-Sub campaign was funded through foundation support, corporate support and individuals who donated via the purchase of a voucher for an eligible package. Galligaskin’s donated 50 percent of each sandwich voucher to support the campaign’s mission.
Given the current omicron surge across the country, these additional resources are more important than ever to ensure a safe, consistent learning environment for IDEA’s students, teachers, and families.
“We are committed to filling our classrooms with quality educators each and every day. This commitment, along with the IDEA mission to provide an excellent education in a positive environment, inspired us to be a part of the solution,” said Dr. Dionel Waters, Executive Director for IDEA Tarrant County. “The Gift-A-Sub campaign will not only support the hiring of full-time substitute teachers on our campuses and fill immediate gaps in personnel, but it will also strengthen the pipeline of candidates for co-teacher and teacher roles in academic years to come.”
IDEA Public Schools first launched in Tarrant County in 2019 with the opening of IDEA Rise in West Fort Worth and IDEA Achieve in Haltom City. Since then, IDEA has expanded to eight schools across four campuses with the opening of IDEA Edgecliff in 2020 and IDEA Southeast in 2021. In total, IDEA Public Schools serves more than 3,000 students across Tarrant County.
