Rowan University is trying to increase male teachers of color in the classroom. Meet three of them.

Eric Holmes always believed teaching was his destiny.

After spending more than two decades enjoying a lucrative career as a fitness center executive in South Jersey, however, the likelihood of changing jobs appeared to be getting dimmer.

Then COVID shut the world down in 2020, and gyms were among the last places to reopen.

Holmes jumped at a chance to pursue a different path and enter the teaching field. He landed a job in 2022 as a seventh-grade social studies teacher at Camden’s Promise Charter School in the city’s Cramer Hill section.

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Holmes enrolled in a Rowan University program that allowed him to teach at the same time he worked toward his teaching certificate through an alternative process. The Men of Color Hope Achievers program, known as MOCHA, seeks to fill a void.

Facing a national teacher shortage and struggling to fill vacancies with a diverse workforce, more districts are turning to professionals like Holmes, particularly Black and Hispanic men who decided to make education their second career.

“There needs to be a greater representation,” said Ya Vanca Brooks, coordinator of the MOCHA program. “We don’t have those positive role models in the classrooms that our kids need to see.”

During the 2020-21 school year, Black men accounted for 1.3% of the country’s 3.8 million public school teachers, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, and Hispanic men accounted for about 2%, EdWeek reported. By comparison, 28% of students enrolled were Hispanic, and 15% were Black.

» READ MORE: With few Black male educators in local schools, a push for more diversity: ‘You get tired of being the only one’

Studies have found that low-income Black students who have at least one Black teacher in elementary school are significantly more likely to graduate from high school and consider attending college. Having at least one Black teacher also reduced suspensions and disciplinarian problems, experts say.

Brooks said MOCHA was funded by a $930,000 state grant after Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation to create a two-year pilot program to recruit more men of color to the classroom, especially in underperforming districts like Camden and Trenton. The first cohort of 10 fellows completed the program in June, and mostly placed in South Jersey districts. A second group of 23 fellows is expected to graduate next June.

The fellows already have bachelor’s degrees in various disciplines and must complete other requirements to obtain a teaching license, including 12 weeks as a student teacher. They get professional development, mentors, and support to help them pass the required six-hour New Jersey Praxis exam. In exchange, they must agree to work in their New Jersey districts for five years.

“I love it,” said Sharif El-Mekki, founder/CEO of the Center for Black Educator Development in Philadelphia. “This is the kind of program that we advocate for.”

Brooks said the MOCHA program faces an uncertain future because funding was not renewed for fiscal 2025 amid a growing national anti-diversity backlash.

» READ MORE: ‘The strongest talent is already in our schools’: Paraprofessionals get help making the leap to teacher

Married and the father of five, Holmes spent 22 years building fitness centers as an executive with Kennedy Fitness. The company made him such lucrative offers that it was difficult to walk away. Then COVID-19 struck.

“God shut it all down,” Holmes said. “It was the perfect opportunity. I knew I wanted to get into teaching.”

Holmes, 45, a 2001 graduate of Lock Haven University where he studied fitness management, taught for a year in Bridgeton before joining Camden’s Promise two years ago. He wanted to be a role model like his only Black teacher (a substitute) at Vineland High School, Mr. Lindsay.

“I want to be here so the kids can be impacted,” Holmes said. “It’s more than a teacher. I become a friend, a mentor, whatever I can do to help.”

Holmes calls his first-floor classroom the Zen Den and sets the tone at the beginning of his five classes to promote social and emotional learning. He plays soft music, turns out the lights and gives students positive affirmations.

“When I come to his class, it makes me feel comfortable,” said Eulany Carmenatty, 12.

Holmes started an afterschool business club and runs a Boys to Men mentoring program for middle schoolers teaching manners and life skills, like how to tie a tie. He is also a mentor in the community through his membership in Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and the Prince Hall Masons.

“I love teaching,” said Holmes. “I wish I could have done it sooner.”

By the time he reached his senior year in high school, Alberto Jimenez wanted a break, so he dropped out. He quickly realized he had made a big mistake. The Bronx native earned a diploma 18 months later, and eventually married and moved to South Jersey.

While raising two sons, Jimenez, 54, began his career in education as a paraprofessional in the Vineland and Millville school systems. He started taking classes at Cumberland County College, now Rowan College of South Jersey, where he obtained an associate’s degree and later a bachelor’s from Stockton University.

“It made me want to help students never fall into the trap I fell into,” Jimenez said. “I fell in love with teaching.”

Jimenez obtained a provisional teaching certificate through the Rowan program and began teaching in September 2022 at the Thomas Wallace Middle School in Vineland, where he teaches seventh- and eighth-grade social studies. He received several job offers, but wanted to teach history.

“My heart is in history,” he said.

Jimenez, who is of Puerto Rican descent, shares his diverse ancestry with his students. The school is predominantly Hispanic and houses the middle school ESL program for the district, said the principal, Roselyn Rosado.

“It is extremely important for students to see anything is possible and to see those that look like them are in positions of power and influence,” Rosado said.

Jimenez also has several Ukrainian students and has committed to learning a new phrase or word in their language every week to help them adjust. He also serves as an adviser for the debate, dominoes, and personal finance clubs.

He is a pastor at the Well of Hope Fellowship Church in Vineland, along with his wife, Diane. He also is a real estate agent.

“I can’t thank God enough. I love teaching.”

After a layoff, Genaro Borrero was in his second career helping school districts hire substitute teachers when a recruiter suggested a classroom position for him.

It was an easy transition because Borrero already had a certificate of eligibility. He passed the teacher’s exam in 2005, but couldn’t find a job. He spent several years at the American Red Cross but was downsized in 2020. He went to work for ESS in Cherry Hill, which places substitute teachers and support staff.

Borrero was a little nervous about teaching, but decided to follow in the footsteps of an older brother, Vicente, a Spanish teacher. He was hired at Eastside High in Camden, his alma mater when it was known as Woodrow Wilson.

“I didn’t know what to expect, but then after a while, I realized all I had to do was be me,” he said. “It’s been better than I could have ever expected.”

Borrero, 43, has a bilingual social studies class at Eastside, mostly immigrant students, and focuses on history and English skills. This year, he was named chairman of the social studies department.

He started the school year teaching students geography and using maps to show them similarities in their journey to the United States. His students hail from Mexico, Guatemala, Haiti, Brazil, and Chile. Some speak Spanish, others Haitian Creole.

“I want the students to understand that we are different, but we can still learn from one another regardless of where we’re from,” Borrero said.

Borrero said he had several Black teachers while attending Eastside, but few Hispanic teachers. Today, the majority of Eastside’s nearly 600 students are Hispanic. Principal Gloria Martinez-Vega was his senior class adviser.

“I try to connect with them,” Borrero said. “It definitely helps because my students see someone who looks like them and they are willing to open.”

A huge Phillies fan, Borrero is an assistant coach for the baseball and soccer teams. He also is an adviser to the public speaking and debate clubs.

“I just love it here. It was the best leap of faith I could have ever taken,” he said.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the percentage of Black and Hispanic male teachers in the United States, and to include the full state grant amount for the two-year pilot program in New Jersey.