Summer vacation is in full swing for both students and their teachers.
But for many educators, it's not exactly a “vacation.” Instead, these next few weeks will be all about finding a work/life balance.
Josh Frederick, a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher at James Whitcomb Riley Elementary School within the Vincennes Community School Corp., said teaching is a year-round job — and this summer he's already been off to a busy start.
For the past few weeks, Frederick has been working at the camps put on by the school corporation, such as the Spark camp that allows students to think outside the box and use technology.
He's also worked the theater camp, where a production of “The Lion King” was staged with elementary students within a week-long timeframe.
“These camps are a great way to connect to our kids and really bring out their creative sides, which I enjoy being able to do,” Frederick said.
Frederick is among many local teachers who are looking ahead to the 2017-18 academic year. He said he has already started getting things organized in his classroom and will take time to research new ways to teach and engage incoming students.
While summer is a good time to recharge his batteries, Frederick added, school is always on the brain.
“It's always nice to be able to relax for a couple weeks but … I'm always on the lookout for something I can find to enhance my classroom and help my students,” he said.
Frederick's fellow Riley fourth- and fifth-grade teacher Jake Beaman is also working this summer, though his job is a bit different.
“I am currently working as a seasonal at the Indiana Department of Transportation in the construction department,” he said. “My wife and I bought a house about a year ago, so I have spent some time this summer working on things around the house that I have on my summer to-do list.”
Beaman also enjoys the opportunity to recharge during the summer as well as prepare for the following school year.
“I look for new things to try, or ways to tweak things that I already do to make them better,” he said. “Since I just finished my second year of teaching, there are countless things that I can adjust and improve upon.”
Jennifer Steffy, who teaches agriculture and sponsors the Future Farmers of America chapter at South Knox Middle/High School, will be spending most of the summer with her students.
“FFA members can't get away from their ag teacher that easily,” she joked.
This past week, the FFA chapter spent three days at the Indiana FFA State Convention at Purdue University, where they competed in several events, and they'll be busy with the upcoming Knox County Fair in July.
“I am also busy 2-3 days a week checking the progress of my supervised agricultural experience student projects for the summer,” Steffy said.
North Knox Junior/Senior High School teacher Kristi Utt is also honed in on the upcoming academic year. She'll attend professional development conferences this summer to keep her energized for classes and will be preparing for the inaugural Knox County CEO Program that will start up this fall.
But Utt said she plans to carve out plenty of time with loved ones, too.
“My husband and I have several horse camping trips planned to various state parts in Indiana. I love to catch up on reading and spending extra time with my family doing fun activities,” she said. “My favorite part of summer is getting to spend time with family and friends outside.”
Similarly, when she's not supervising students, Steffy will also be spending free time in the great outdoors.
“A few fun things I do when I get some free time is to go horseback riding or hiking with my husband and our dogs,” she said.
Steffy won't be the only local teacher spending time on a farm this summer. Andrea Chattin, a math teacher at North Knox, said she'll be a frequent visitor to her husband's family farm, where she enjoys being around the animals and horseback riding.
But she also looks forward to rethinking what needs to be happening back in her classroom.
“I spend a lot of time planning and reorganizing my plans for the next year,” Chattin said. “As a teacher, I am always looking for new ideas and how to incorporate technology into my classroom.”
Valerie Kelly, a fifth-grade teacher at Francis Vigo Elementary School, said that by the end of the first week of summer, she was already planning things for next year as well. She's been in constant contact with other teachers over the past couple weeks and has spent time with many of them as well.
But she also acknowledged that summertime is a good opportunity to focus on family.
“The best part of summer, for me, has always been doing things I enjoy but never have the time to do during the school year — spending more time with my parents, my children,” Kelly said. “I now have a granddaughter, so I'm able to keep her some.
“But I'm a creature of habit, and I always look forward to getting back in routine, seeing new students, collaborating with my colleagues and beginning a new year.”
The free time that comes along with summer vacation is particularly appealing to Jennifer Vickers, too.
The George Rogers Clark Middle School counselor said she spends quite a bit of her summer working on new ideas to implement for the next school year, but still makes time to take a vacation with family, hang out at the baseball diamonds to watch her son play ball, and tackle some house projects.
“My favorite part about summer vacation is the flexibility with my time to work on school projects, because it is very important to me that I self-reflect and think about how I can make the next year even better for my students, but also the ability to give all of myself to my family, which is a wonderful feeling,” Vickers said.