SUMMER JOBS: TEACHERS FIND WORKPLACE DIVERSIONS

Many people think having summers off means educators have easier jobs than those in other professions. But to many teachers summer offers an opportunity for a different work experience.

Whether they are working within their profession in summer-school jobs or taking a leap into something entirely different, like retail jobs, many teachers take the opportunity summer provides to try something different.

"I love it because you usually get the kids who want to be there," said Louis J. Schultz School art teacher Saundra Fidler. She leads a summer pottery and clay sculpture class at Southeast Missouri State University.

Fidler said her summer classes give her a variety she doesn't see during the school year. She generally teaches 12- and 13-year-olds in Cape Girardeau public schools, but her summer class is open to 8-to-11-year olds from throughout the area. The mediums she uses and the length of her classes are also different in the summer.

"I have them for three hours at a time (during the summer), so they really have the chance to get into it," she said. "The kids like clay because they don't get to do that in school, and the sculpture takes a lot more time than we can usually devote to something in regular class."

Besides the variety that summer jobs provide, moonlighting teachers also like the opportunity to learn new experiences. Julia Jorgensen, a language arts teacher at Cape Girardeau Central High School, works throughout the year as a customer service representative for Famous-Barr department store. Although she initially took the job to finish paying into her Social Security benefits, she said she enjoys the challenge of working in retail.

"I work in the gift-wrap department, and I can say that I have learned how to gift wrap items probably better than most people I know," Jorgensen said. "Retail is very fascinating; they work very hard here."

Jorgensen said summer or second jobs provide teachers with new perspectives that can help them shape their teaching strategies. "I think for most of us it's a different perspective, so it's a good break," she said. "I think that it's good for me to work in what we call the real world so I know what kind of skills my students need to know."

Fidler said her job also provides her with a healthy respect for elementary teachers. "I really admire them," she said. "The kids are just real free; they have such free expression and they're not afraid to try things. When elementary teachers go home, they know they've put in a full day."

Pat Renard, a life-skills teacher at Schultz, said her second job doing alterations for a dry cleaners provides more relaxation for her than it does classroom inspiration. Her students benefit from her experiences when studying money management and price comparisons, she said, but her main benefit is she can watch television without falling asleep.

"I'm one that can't watch TV at night unless I'm doing something, because I'll just fall asleep," she said. "I normally sew and watch TV at the same time, so it basically keeps my hands busy and keeps me awake."

Most of the teachers said their jobs didn't add much to their incomes, but extra money always helps. Many consider the second paychecks a source for "mad money" and said they enjoyed the changes that working outside of the classroom provided.