SAN ANTONIO — Dozens of San Antonians walked in with resumes and left with new careers at Edgewood Independent School District on Thursday.
Anthony Arguello is Edgewood ISD’s newest automotive Career and Technical Education teacher. “I used the QR code and signed in – very fast – sat down, within minutes I was speaking with representatives from the district,” Arguello said. “We discussed my position, my work experience, and I ended up with my dream job.”
He may not have realized what he was walking into, but he was exactly what they were looking for in an employee.
"I said, 'Oh, my God, you have no idea how happy I am to see you,'” said Edgewood ISD's Director of Recruitment and Hiring Patricia Mendoza.
“And I told him, I said, 'You're like a gem for Edgewood,'" she said. Arguello has been teaching elementary for four years, but says he sees himself teaching older students.
"Transitioning from a younger age group to this age group has been the next step. I wanted to see myself going through. I expected it to maybe be a five-year plan. And it happened instantly right now."
Especially because it means he gets to work in the passion for automotive work he picked up from his father.
"My dad was a huge influence,” he said. “It's a big passion of all of us, it's a family thing."
He came in during the morning session while they were hiring positions like bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers and police, but Mendoza said the type of teaching position he was looking for is particularly hard to fill.
"But since he showed up during this time, we jumped on it,” Mendoza said. "We didn't want to let him go. And we didn't. We hired him."
Mendoza said they have been enticing teachers in with the pay structure the Edgewood ISD board just approved. Entry-level teachers with no prior experience will be earning $58,000 a year. As a bilingual teacher, Arguello will also qualify for an additional $8,000 stipend to be paid over two years.
If you missed this one, Edgewood ISD is holding another job fair on Saturday August 6 at EISD Fine Arts Academy. You can find more information here.