Hiring process by red green

The high school is hiring in multiple departments for the next school year. Most of the spots needing to be filled are due to teachers retiring. Interviews took place in March and April.

“We usually know about those [retirements] much earlier than teachers changing jobs, so it allowed me to get a head start on filling these positions,” Principal Bryant Bednarek said. 

There have been retirements in the English, science, music and tech and engineering departments. The hiring process starts with the position getting posted on the WECAN (Wisconsin Educator Career Access Network) site and teachers apply there. 

“From there Mr. Bednarek looks at their applications and sets up interviews based off of candidates he feels would be a good fit for Berlin,” Math teacher Shawn Erb said. 

Then, depending on the position Bednarek chooses teachers from that department to be in the interview panel to decide if the candidate is a good fit. 

“Credentials get you the interview, personality gets you the job,” Erb said.

Finding a teacher who is a good fit for Berlin was very important for the interviewers so that next year goes well with the new teachers. The interview panel was also very focused on finding someone who would be a good fit for the students. 

“We want somebody who knows what they’re doing, but if they don’t have a good personality, nobody’s going to learn from them. But, they can have the most wonderful personality and get along with everybody and not be a very good teacher,” English teacher Angela Femali said. 

Finding qualified candidates has been difficult.

“There is a shortage of teachers. Jobs that I used to get 35 applicants for are now more like 15. Some positions are more like two or three. It’s a challenge to find qualified people at times,” Bednarek said.

As of April 21 there is one teaching position left to be filled.