When Dr. Greg Ciliberti heard that Jefferson County Public Schools was experiencing a teacher shortage, he decided he wanted to do something to help. "Much to my surprise, I found out you don't actually have to be a teacher to be a substitute," he explains. "So I became an emergency substitute teacher."
The semi-retired primary care physician, who grew up in Louisville, thought that subbing would be a great way to give back to his community. What he didn’t realize was how much he would like it. "It is challenging, but it is very enjoyable,” he says. “I look forward to it every day.” And he sees helping teachers as so important that he’s been donating his paychecks back to the classrooms where he’s been substituting.
The teacher whose classroom Ciliberti subbed in on Friday was in a car accident and will be out of her class for some time. Ciliberti is donating his paycheck to help with her medical expenses.
Ciliberti wants the students he works with to know that there are people out there who care about them and their futures. And he hopes that others will be inspired by his story to get out there and help too. "I think we could solve our teacher problem pretty quickly,” he says. “By just having people who are sitting home bored, who want to do something different.”
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