Screaming "SUMMERS MAKE IT SOOOOO WORTH IT"



That's me on the far right. HAPPY that IT'S SUMMER!



Wednesday was the last day of school for students, Thursday was our graduation ceremony that is held ever year at the wonderful Constitutional Hall, and Friday was the last day for us teachers. WOOOOHOOO

Now, I know that there are people who wonder, "What do teachers do in the summer?" No, we don't think about the kids, no, we don't plan for the next year, and not all of us work other jobs. Many of us spend the summer just plain relishing in the idea that we do not have to be the leader for awhile.

Me, I am a sucker for learning so, I have spent many summers participating in National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminars with teachers from all over the place. Well, not actually from all over the place, but all over the United States.

I spent a summer in Amherst, Massachusetts studying Crime and Punishment, I spent a summer in Eatonville, Florida studying Zora Neale Hurston,  and last summer I was in Chicago studying Blacks in Politics etc. So, you can see, there are countless numbers of educational opportunities for teachers in the summer that are in wonderful places. These opportunities can almost be looked at as a two for one: get your studying on and get your partying on.

However, there are other teachers who go backpacking in Ireland, touring Europe, exploring Australia, and even vacationing for the entire summer in Sunny Florida.

This summer I am not doing anything educational, and at first I was a little nervous about this, but I did a little pre-planning. I planted a garden to take up some time, have mapped out all of the things that I will do in the DC area, have several trips planned mostly for pleasure, except when I go to San Francisco to present at the Advanced Placement (AP) conference where I am sure I will make time for pleasure. But, as sure as my name is Jacqueline Stallworth, I will spend plenty of time running, hiking, biking, planning tennis and most importantly, spending time with people whom I care about.

Normally, when I tell people that I am a teacher, I get the "How do you do it? "Kids are so bad today."  Blah, blah, blah. But, I normally just smile and scream in my head "SUMMERS MAKE IT SOOOOO WORTH IT!"