Summer. It’s that time again, the time of year that everyone looks forward to all year. As the school year comes to an end, students gleefully talk about their summer plans on their way to their classes for the very last time (that is, until school starts back up again). Students buzz with excitement when talking about all the free time and fun stuff they’ll be doing over the summer, which include travelling, vacationing, hanging out with friends, and just relaxing while they can. Some students will be spending their summer earning high school credits through summer school.

But forget what students have planned: what are teachers doing when school’s out? Teachers must be relaxing, maybe even travelling, right? Wrong. Teachers will be relaxing and enjoying their break, but some have to give up a part of their leisure time to work.

“I’m gonna be busy. I’m gonna work full time [in the city of] Gaithersburg at a summer camp. It’s a camp for middle school aged kids; they go on field trips to places like museums and parks, and they’re just always on the go, it’s called Xceler8,” said Physical Education teacher Christopher Day.

Although Day will be busy serving the community during his summer break, others will be busy focusing for the upcoming school year.

“Well, I’m going to be busy preparing for IB Physics because I’ll be teaching IB Physics next year… It’s all going to be very crazy,” said current Honors Matters and Energy and Physics teacher Sara Garside.

While students talk about having the best summer of their lives and look forward to relaxing, spending time with friends, and sleeping in, teachers have different plans. Some teachers like Day and Garside will be very productive and active in the community over the summer, while other teachers, like Arabic and French teacher Mona Hamdy, look forward to some relaxing, fun time with their families.

“I’m going to see my kids and my grandkids. I can’t wait to see them. But, I’m also going to teacher workshops before school starts… [It’s not fun], but teachers have to do that to get ready before school starts.” Hamdy said.

It’s safe to say that teachers and students have different plans for summer, whether they are travelling, relaxing, or working. But most people can all agree that teachers have it harder, because most do some kind of work during the summer. Its obvious that there’s a difference between us and the teachers, but little do we realize that pretty soon, all of us students will have to work and be (somewhat very) productive over the summer. So, then again, maybe us and the teachers aren’t so different after all.