A lot of the collective day-to-day chaos from COVID has (thankfully) simmered down since last school year.

Vaccines are widely available, masks are plentiful (and optional), and trips to the grocery store no longer feel like a tactical operation.

One thing that hasn’t changed much though, is the lack of substitute teachers.

Brunswick resident Heather D. Martin wants to know what’s on your mind; email her at heather@heatherdmartin.com.

If a teacher comes down sick, has to stay home with their child, or has some sort of family emergency, the odds are pretty good that the school will not be able to find anyone to cover the class, let alone any bus or lunch duties that teacher has.

Schools are doing their very best to weather this new storm, and they should be given full marks for once again bending, stretching and getting awfully creative in order to keep the school day running.

That said, the backbone of a quality education is the teacher and there’s just no way that a school, even the very best of schools, can be their most effective under these conditions.

I’m guessing we all have our own memories of having a sub and I suppose we can all be forgiven for hesitating to become the person in the hot seat.

However, substitute teaching is actually a pretty sweet gig.

The pay’s not bad – Freeport is currently $130 a day and Brunswick is $150, for example. The students are genuinely interesting human beings who tend to be pretty sweet, as well. You can choose the days you want to work and simply say no on the days you don’t, and subs are such a vital part of a school functioning that you get lots of kudos just for existing.

If you are starting out and want to be a teacher, substitute teaching is a gold mine of experience you’d be hard-pressed to get any other way. Some colleges are starting to grant credit to their education majors for it, and I think that’s a really smart move.

Where else could a student get such immediate hands-on teaching experience? In what other format could a student experience so many different grades, settings and classroom models? How else could an emerging teacher get to know so many school systems and forge relationships with so many administrators?

It is the ultimate paid internship.

Substitute teaching has much to offer those with more life experience under their belts, as well. Teaching, even if only the “lite” substitute version – possibly especially if that – is genuinely fascinating and deeply rewarding. It gives a sense of purpose and meaning, of time well spent in service to the future good.

There is also no better, or quicker, way to connect with the town at large. Schools are the hub. Schools are where a community identity takes shape. To be a part of the school is to be a part of the larger community.

If current requirements for short-term substitutes were relaxed to allow life experiences to count in lieu of college experience, imagine how rich and full the pool of community members joining in the education of the youth could be. It would be like little mini career days!

The pandemic created a crisis, and it is never wise to let a crisis go to waste. Disruption brings opportunity. Now is the ideal moment to rethink outmoded and broken ways of being and create something new, something better.