The great mystery: What do teachers do over the summer?

Published 3:38 pm Wednesday, July 30, 2008

A friend left a telling message recently for Amanda Findley, a resource teacher at Parkwood Elementary.

“My friend called me the other day and left me a voice mail that said, ‘What do teachers do over the summer?’” Findley said. “I think a lot of people don’t have a clue, unless they personally know a teacher and even then…”

If you’re under 10, a teacher only exists in the classroom. But those over 22 and office-bound on a nice day might imagine teachers sitting by the pool all summer, sipping mai tais.

That’s not the case for many Shoreline teachers who work second jobs to supplement their income. Many also plan their classes, take professional development courses or work on a master’s degree or national certification.

For others, summer’s a good time to travel places like Jordan, England and Hawaii.

In response to her friends’ question, Findley can say she’s working 20 hours a week at a private school, Morningside Academy in Seattle. She needs the money, but she wishes she had more time to spend with her 1-year-old daughter, she said.

Sondra Wilson, special education teacher at Shorecrest High School, is teaching summer school at Kellogg Middle School and working with special education students for extra pay.

“I have credit cards I need to pay off,” she said.

Elizabeth Beck, president of the Shoreline Education Association, the teacher’s union, said about half the teachers she knows are working this summer. Some teach summer school. Others paint houses, work in restaurants and grocery stores and do home cosmetic sales. Beck waited tables during her first four or five years of teaching, in the summer and weekends during the school year, and said that is common among teachers with fewer years of experience.

This coming school year, the base salary for a first-year teacher in Washington without a master’s degree is about $34,000. In Shoreline, first-year teachers make about $40,000 a year.

Veteran teachers are more likely to escape the second summer job: a state teacher with more than 16 years of experience, a Master’s and 90 credits of professional development makes almost $65,000 a year. In Shoreline, that teacher would make $75,000.

In addition to paid work, many teachers spend summer time preparing classes. It’s common to come to school a few weeks before school starts to plan, so a teacher’s summer is often about six weeks long, Beck said.

Heather Stipulkosky, who taught second grade this past year at Lake Forest Park Elementary, will teach third grade next year.

She’s spending part of her summer learning the third grade math curriculum. She also went to Oahu for a week. For her, summer is mostly relaxing.

“It’s wonderful … you get to go shopping when people are at work, I can go out in the daytime and eat lunch,” she said.

That lets her recharge for the coming year.

“The school year just really drains you. You put everything you have into your teaching,” Stipulkosky said. “If I didn’t have the summer, I don’t know if I’d be able to do this all the time.”

She said she loves her job, but needs a break from it.

Wilson, the special education teacher, gets relaxation in during the summer too, despite her work week. Working 20 hours a week feels more relaxed than the 60 hours a week she works in the school year, she said.

Once summer school is done, Wilson is looking forward to a visit from her 13-year-old niece, who she hasn’t seen since she was 2. It’s hard to make time to see family during the year, but summers give some teachers a block of time to catch up with family and travel, Wilson said.

Some local teachers did take advantage of the summer to travel to exotic places.

Merrilyn Tucker traveled to England, spending the month of July there.

Callie Jones moved to Hawaii the week after school got out, and had a month off before starting her job at a private Christian School on the north shore of Oahu.

Shorewood High School teacher Rich Stuart visited Turkey, and Andy Berkbigler of Shorecrest and Becky Edy of Highland Terrace will visit Jordan in August as part of a teacher exchange.