Many teachers use summer for more than vacations

JONESBORO — Teachers are no strangers to questions, although there is one frequent query some find irksome: “I suppose you’re happy to have the summers off?”

Teachers have shared their dismay on blogs and social media, claiming they do not, in fact, have the summers off.

So what exactly do teachers do over the summer?

Nettleton School District Assistant Superintendent Karen Kurtner said teachers may not necessarily be teaching over the summer, but they prepare for another year and work on bettering themselves.

“They are constantly growing or planning in order to make even better lessons,” she said.

Kurtner described the teacher’s summer as a time for reflection and re-evaluation as to what they should do next year.

Amanda Mirafuentes, an instructional facilitator at the Visual Performing Arts Magnet School in Jonesboro, said although teachers do get some time off in the summer, they still go to workshops, prepare their classrooms and never stop working.

“On the time that I’m off, I’m brainstorming and planning, just trying to get ready for the next year,” Mirafuentes said. “Even if we are off, our brains are never off.”

Mirafuentes said she has six weeks off, but she will be leading workshops during two of those weeks.

Lisa Lacefield, a junior high social studies teacher in the Valley View School District, will partake in various workshops and activities over the summer, including her role as a mentor for the Arkansas Declaration of Learning. This will be Lacefield’s second year of mentoring for the three-year-old program that partners educators with museums and libraries such as Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville to create a unique learning experience for students.

The program involves collaboration and work throughout the year, but the most laborious period is during the summer, when the selected educators meet to plan and research at a one-week summit.

Lacefield said weeks like the summit are voluntary over the summer, and teachers can attend while they have vacation time.