Art teacher Sherri Parker recently had a baby, leaving her class in need of a permanent substitute. In this case, Carol Hall became the permanent substitute for Parker’s classes. This can cause difficulties and benefits not only for students who need to continue to learn without their teacher, but also for Hall, who is entering a situation that includes a lot of the unknown, though she would rather be a permanent substitute than a substitute for only a day.

Students often feel like substitutes are not informed on the subject in class and therefore can not explain it well.

Sophomore Sophia Jones is in the 3D art class and expresses some difficulties that come with a permanent substitute. “They don’t know how to explain certain things as well as your normal teacher would,” she stated.

Sophomore Emma Schudel is in the art foundations class and shares a similar opinion to Jones when thinking about the biggest difficulties. “The substitute may not be able to answer your questions,” Schudel stated.

The opinions of Jones and Schudel show a trend in the what students feel like the biggest difficulties with a substitute are.

From the teacher’s perspective, Hall feels like the biggest difficulty is gaining respect from students and having them adjust to her teaching.

“I am a retired teacher, but they still want to say I am just a sub,” Hall stated, “I think they wait about a week or so to figure out if I know what I am doing here.”

Though a classroom with a permanent substitute can have challenges such as substitutes not gaining respect or students having unanswered questions, there are also some benefits for both the substitute and the students. For students, there is more flexibility in the class.

“I feel like they would be more lenient with grading because they can’t grade everything,” Jones said when expressing some things that would make class with a permanent substitute easier.

Hall also benefits from being a permanent substitute. She enjoys being a permanent substitute rather than a substitute who only teaches for one day. “Being a retired teacher, I like to make those connections with students and see them more than just one time,” Hall expressed.

There are advantages and disadvantages to permanent substitute teachers. Patience is needed from both substitute and students in order to make the relationship between them beneficial.

Schudel views the return of Parker as something that will be beneficial. “Everyone will be a lot less stressed and they can ask her more questions,” Schudel said. “She can show them how to do stuff instead of just making them do it on their own.”

Parker is expected to return on November 27th.