When children return to school in August, some teachers may ask them to write about “How I Spent My Summer Vacation.” In recent weeks, Great Bend USD 428’s Public Relations Director Jennifer Schartz has supplied the Great Bend Tribune with a series of articles on how some teachers spend their summers. It’s been fun to learn about teachers who use their “free time” to do community service work, take on a summer job, start new businesses or further their own education.
Some of them continue to teach at different locations, sometimes even in different countries. Janae Wear, a first-grade teacher at Jefferson Elementary School, is teaching English to Chinese students online.
Teachers aren’t the only school employees who stay busy in the summer. Each month when the Board of Education meets, interim Superintendent Khris Thexton (on Saturday, he will officially wear the “superintendent” title) reports on building projects, and a lot of these take place while students are not in school. Meanwhile, the school board and administrators stay busy working on the budget and preparing for the next school year.
No one should disparage teachers for the time off they receive, even if they simply use that time to do something they enjoy and recharge their batteries. When they return to their classrooms, teachers need to be trained and ready to meet the demands and challenges of guiding our children to become lifelong learners and engaged citizens.