Busy summer for teachers

Even though school is out, teachers are still hard at work

By: Jessica Beym
   Even though the students were dismissed for the at 12:30 p.m., the halls of the Cranbury School were still bustling Monday with the commotion of teachers cleaning out their classrooms and preparing for summer vacation.
   With the last day of school just a day away, garbage cans overflowed with old papers and the remains of students’ lockers. Textbooks stacked in boxes cluttered the classroom shelves, and sheets of faded construction paper were all that was left of the empty bulletin boards.
   For some teachers and administration, the warm summer months aren’t all that different from the busy school days of September through June. Some said they would be hard at work updating the curriculum, planning new units for the fall, or exploring new teaching techniques through higher education.
   But for many, summer is a time for basking in the sun at the beach, traveling to vacation hot spots, and keeping up with hobbies that time doesn’t allow for during the school year.
   While cleaning off her desk Monday afternoon, fourth-grade teacher and Cranbury resident Carol Lindenfeld said there are a few things she is looking forward to once she settles in for the summer. In July, she plans to travel to Oregon for her son’s wedding and while she’s out there, she hopes to visit spots along the West Coast, including Seattle.
   Once she returns, she plans on finishing up the spring cleaning at her house.
   "You know — do all those things I put off all year," Ms. Lindenfeld said.
   A summer of traveling is also in the stars for James Gilligan, health and physical education teacher, who lives in Spring Lake Heights with his wife and family. With a trailer in tow, Mr. Gilligan plans to enjoy his summer off by camping for three straight weeks up and down the east cost from Pennsylvania to Virginia and from Tennessee to Florida.
   Mr. Gilligan said that even though he will be working with the other health teachers to rewrite the school’s curriculum, this will be his first summer since he was 14 that he hasn’t worked. He will also be involved with a basketball camp near his hometown, he said.
   With a family pack of season passes to Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, third-grade teacher Maria Koster, of Hamilton, knows the summer will be an exciting time for her and her husband, and their two children. And, when she’s not riding roller coasters or going to the beach with her family, Ms. Koster will be delving into as many novels as she can.
   "Or watch movies, like I never get to do," Ms. Koster said.
   For many, summer is a time for hobbies. But for music teacher Tommy Nichols, his hobby just also happens to be his profession. Mr. Nichols, a percussionist, said he would be performing at local bar mitzvahs, parties and summer concerts. During the school year, he only has time to perform on the weekends, but this summer he will dedicate his time to music, he said.
   Mr. Nichols will also be busy teaching a filmmaking course and a music composition course at the Cranbury Arts Council’s summer camp. He also will be working on his master’s degree at Monmouth University.
   Doris Parkin, who teaches reading and language arts in the fourth-grade resource room, said she will keep busy this summer by tutoring a few of her students during the week and spending long hours helping to paint her mother’s house in Manalapan.
   Speech teacher Isabelle Perry said that when she’s not keeping up with her family’s busy life — one son is getting married, her daughter is interning at a New York art gallery and her younger son is learning how to drive — she hopes to be working on a few sewing projects.
   "I love to sew," Ms. Perry said. "I’m an active seamstress. I love working with old vintage lace and buttons."
   Ms. Perry said she would also be working with other teachers to update the school’s English as a second language curriculum and will be working on a project with the state Department of Education.
   Perhaps the busiest of them all is Chief School Administrator Carol Malouf, who said she will be spending the summer days at the Cranbury School, working on new curriculums, planning schedules, and writing benchmark goals for testing.
   But when she has a chance to lighten her workload, Ms. Malouf plans to spend time reading novels, playing Sudoku, which are number puzzles, and going to the Cape May area.
   "To be honest, I haven’t really had a chance to think about summer," Ms. Malouf said.