BJU has been hosting the Christian School Recruitment Conference since 1970. This year, nearly 70 ministries came from across the country and the world to recruit faculty and staff during the two-day event.
Not Just for Teacher Candidates
According to Dr. Jeremy Watts, chair of the Division of Teacher Education, “While this recruitment conference focuses on hiring for schools, and while teachers are the majority of folks hired by schools, it does take more people than teachers for a school to function.”
A glance through the schools’ listed needs shows schools looking for librarians, front office staff, athletic directors and coaches, in addition to teachers and principals.
Not Just for Seniors
In speaking with the administrators, one recurring theme was the value they found in establishing relationships with underclassmen during the conference.
“A lot of the students that we meet, we meet them when they’re freshmen or sophomores and we develop a relationship with them. So, by the time they are looking at coming into our school or coming into another school, we feel like we know them. We’re friends,” said Craig Tucker, the middle and high school principal at Wilmington Christian Academy in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Jack Farmer, head of school for Berean Baptist Academy in Fayetteville, North Carolina, said, “Most of the seniors already know where they’re going before they walk in the door. So, if you can get a relationship with them ahead of time, then the year they’re a senior they’re walking through the door for you.”
Not Just for Schools
In addition to the many Christian schools represented at the conference, two missions organizations also attended. Alan Patterson with Gospel Fellowship Association said that they need people who are trained in education.
“We like people who have a background in education. … We need those who are trained to do this,” he said. Patterson said that teachers meet two needs in mission fields: helping missionaries educate their own children and helping reach national children through education.
Pastor Joe Fant of Community Baptist Church and Christian School in South Bend, Indiana, made a statement that sums up the motive behind each ministry attending the conference. “You can find teachers that fit the culture of your school when you recruit them from a college that promotes the same culture. So, you know what you’re getting from Bob Jones, and you can with confidence recruit teachers that are setting the spiritual atmosphere and culture for your school.”
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