One place to stop for schools, employment

Published 11:56 pm Saturday, July 21, 2018

Kids and parents could prepare for a new chapter in their lives as students and employees respectively.

Port Arthur Independent School District is hosting its eighth annual One Stop Student Registration Event from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday in the gymnasiums of Memorial High School on 3501 61st St.

Subscribe to our free email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

It will serve as an opportunity for all incoming and current students to register for the 2018-2019 school year. It will also serve as a miniature job fair for parents and adults interested in working for the school district.

Personnel director Kathy Londow said many of the open positions with the district could fulfill a non-traditional role for individuals looking for non-traditional work schedules.

“Some of these positions are not full-time; some are part-time but have benefits,” Londow said. “What makes this a unique opportunity is that we’re looking for people who have a vested interest in the school district — and we thought, ‘Who better than the parents?’”

Londow’s idea for her and her department is to appeal more to the parents of students who may not be looking for a traditional 9-to-5 job, but instead one that allows them to drop off and/or pick up their children from school and fit their work around that.

“At One Stop, we’re already going to have a gathering of parents who are going to have a vested interest in the district; so we want to utilize that population of potential applicants,” Londow said.

According to her, the number of open positions within the district has not really changed much since Harvey: There have been about the same number of positions available compared to last year.

“We’ve had a lot of positions not filled for years and I think we haven’t utilized all the opportunities for recruitment we’ve had,” Londow said. “We’ve got to think outside the box.”

Londow said the district has attended more traditional recruitment drives at Lamar University and other colleges, but has since pushed for a more “creative” way of attracting talent to its schools.

“We’ve got to capture individuals who aren’t always traditional,” she said. “Because we’ve got such a wide variety of scheduling available.

“For example, if a mother wanted to work during the day and a father wanted to work at night, we have positions where you could start as late as noon and work until 8 at night,” Londow said.

Parents will be able to register their children for school, including having the opportunity to complete the online meal application and preview new classroom technology while on site.

Memorial coaches and football players will also be present from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. for a meet-and-greet with attendees.

The list of positions that will be available for application include but are not limited to: Elementary and secondary teaching posts, instructional aid, maintenance and transportation workers, custodians, electricians, plumbers, cooks, cook helpers and clerical duties for administrative.

In order to be prepared to register their child and/or apply for job positions, parents are asked to bring the following items: Social Security card, proof of address, birth certificate, proof of income, shot record and last issued report card.

There will also be a school supply distribution while supplies last.