Teachers and Summer Jobs

"I always pictured my high school teachers summering at a resort or cruising the tropical seas."

By Julie Civiello

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Summer's long gone, and fall's now here - which means back to school. To those of us who look back on our summer, and get depressed because we didn’t get to take any good vacations, the life of a teacher sounds ideal. Tons of vacations and summers off, right? Well, not necessarily. You might be surprised to find that a lot of teachers spent the past few months working alongside their students in summer jobs to supplement their salaries. Youth Radio's Julie Civiello finds out how the tables are turned when students and teachers are working equally hard for summer tips.

I’ve spent my summer bussing tables at an upscale fish restaurant. I’ve made about fifteen hundred in tips, thanks to all the tourists. Soon, I’ll use most of that cash to pay for my books and a full course-load for my freshman year in college.

I always pictured my high school teachers summering at a resort or cruising the tropical seas. But that was before I met my co-worker Rachel Knight. She’s a waitress at a 3 star restaurant now, but in a matter of days, she’ll be back at her teaching job at South Portland High.

Every night we bussers are tipped out by the wait staff. Rachel’s there with everyone else after closing, when we’re all putting our feet up. She drinks wine. I drink Pellegrino water. Just like me, she’s here for the cash. She knew she would make good money waiting tables...

RACHEL (on tape)
But I didn’t realize that I could go in and work from 4 to 10 or 11 at night, 2 nights a week, and make pretty much what I’d make in a week of teaching.

JULIE
You heard it right - on a good night, Rachel makes 300 dollars or more in tips. As a teacher during the school year she makes 730 dollars a week or about 38,000 dollars a year. Rachel has a master’s degree and a great reputation in the school district, so sometimes she’s embarrassed that she’s waiting tables.

RACHEL (on tape)
And there have been times where I’ve seen students or former students walk by and I’ve been waitressing and I’ve thought, “Oh no, I don’t want to see them right now.” It happened the other night. Someone walked by and I thought, “Oh good! She didn’t see me.”

JULIE
Rachel likes to keep her two lines of work separate. But I never forget that she’s a teacher when we’re hanging out after hours. She’s carful not to curse and I’m careful to keep my party stories to myself. Everyone knows teachers run in the same circles, even if they don’t teach at the same school.

At the ferry terminal a couple blocks from the restaurant, Emily Stead works as a deck hand for the summer. It’s the kind of summer job usually reserved for high school and college kids, but Emily teaches special education at an elementary school. While my co-worker Rachel shudders when students come in the restaurant, Emily says she loves being surrounded by all the kids who work with her, or ride the ferries to the islands in Casco Bay.

EMILY (on tape)
One of my coworkers this summer is 18 and she’s just about to start college. And she jokes around with me a lot that I’m like her Mama because I make her wear sunscreen everyday. But I think that’s just part of getting older anyway.

JULIE
Actually, she’s not that much older, which might be why she’s not worried about the way the other deck hands tease her. She’s just three years out of college. She’s also not picky about the pay.

EMILY (on tape)
I think I make about $11 an hour. The greatest part about that is the overtime. So, that's like a little under $16.

JULIE
Emily makes more money teaching, but she’s also paying off student loans so she needs both jobs. Pretty soon, I’ll have to start worrying about loans. So I guess while Rachel, Emily and I may have been on opposite sides of the desk in high school, it turns out, when we look back at our summers, our lives aren’t that different after all.

But I’m not planning to become a teacher. I’m going for a career even more lucrative – acting. Hmm...I should probably start thinking now about what I’m going to do for work between shows.

- This story was produced by Youth Radio in collaboration with Blunt Radio in Portland, Maine.