Jessica, 27 — The Sub Who Made 11th Grade Worth Showing Up For
Meet Jessica, 27, a freelance yoga instructor from Scottsdale who picked up substitute teaching to cover rent between studio gigs. On her first day covering AP Chemistry, the class had a 94% attendance rate. (The usual rate? 61%. We checked.) Within ten minutes of her writing the first equation on the board, three boys in the back spontaneously moved to the front row. Voluntarily. Let’s be honest — nobody in that class learned a single thing about covalent bonds, but they all showed up for every remaining class she covered. The school got three anonymous donations for new classroom supplies that semester. All Venmo. All from 17-year-olds.
Megan, 31 — She Subbed One Day and the Boys’ Soccer Team Added a Study Hall
Megan, 31, was between marketing jobs in Denver when a friend told her substitute teaching paid $140 a day. She covered sophomore English on a Tuesday and by Wednesday the boys’ soccer team had petitioned the principal for a mandatory Tuesday study hall — in the English room specifically. (Her friend who made the referral says she’s still getting thank-you texts.) The girls in class reportedly loved her too, because she let them spend the period watching a documentary instead of parsing The Great Gatsby. The boys were considerably less focused on the documentary. Megan told us she’d sub again “if the rate went up.” The school board is apparently reconsidering the rate.
