People lined up hoping to find a new job at Madera Unified School District. So many showed up, the district opened the job fair earlier than expected.
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Among the applicants, former employees at Madera Community Hospital, who lost their jobs in December after the hospital abruptly closed.
"I worked in the cafeteria, and the experience was great working there. When they came and told us two days before Christmas that the hospital was closing, that wasn't quite so great," said Connie Hodges, job fair attendee.
The district says the hospital's closure led to more applicants on Thursday, and they're expecting even more people to apply for open jobs at the next job fair scheduled in April.
"With the hospital closing, it's a lot of our community members struggling, and so that's one of the main reasons we are coming up showing our support by offering job fairs," explained Alejandra Venegas-Chavez, Personnel Specialist with Madera Unified School District.
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Inside the classroom, the district is looking to fill nearly two dozen openings. Several people showed up to the event looking to jumpstart their teaching careers.
"I know being a teacher is a really important job and will change a lot of students' lives, but it's a lot of work and I'm just excited so I can start working and I can start getting experience," said Alexandra Melchor, job fair attendee.
"I'm only 18 so I just graduated and it's a really good opportunity for people out there, especially young people," said Jasmine Hernandez, job fair attendee.
Thursday's event included 50 extra openings compared to last year, some of those top vacancies included transportation and safety officers.