During the summer, Mr. Rick Button details cars. Photo by: Matthew Libersky
By Matthew Libersky
From August to June, teachers do little work outside of teaching. However, when the summer comes, many have a variety of interesting side jobs.
From August to June, Mr. Phil Koops teaches Biology. But after the bell rings in early June, he prepares to work as the head of a corn detasseling crew at Pioneer Seed.
He shares this position with Physics teacher Mr. Paul Patrick. “I love the job, I get to be outside, do something a little different and make a little money too,” Mr. Koops said.
“We are in charge of removing the tassels from the female rows of corn to ensure cross-pollination as opposed to self-pollination,” Mr. Koops said.
About 70 students help detassel the corn. At 6 a.m., they pick up the workers at Riverside Intermediate School and take them to their assigned field. At around 3 p.m., when the job is finished, they return to Riverside.
During the summer, Spanish teacher Mr. Rick Button details cars as a side job. He said that it involves “careful cleaning of the inside of the car from the headliner [the interior roof] to the carpets,” Mr. Button said. “The outside [of the car gets] a good hard clear protective coat from the top to the bottom. Tires, wheels and windows also get careful attention.”
“I also work on, repair and order parts for Quadra Fire wood pellet stoves. I have a few customers who call when their stove goes down in this area,” Mr. Button said. “I [also] tutor students in Spanish when needed on the side when parents request it.”
He said that he used to work at a group home for boys, but has not lately because it took up a lot of time after-school and over the night.
Other teachers extend their teaching career into the summer, like Mr. John Kozlovich who teaches summer school government and Mr. Josh Martin who has taught summer school English in the past.
This summer, the following teachers will be teaching during summer school: Mrs. Charlotte Tyree (Speech), Mr. Gene Skirvin (Economics), Mrs. Janine Curtis (Online Economics), Mrs. Melissa Faulstich (Government), Mr. John Kozlovich (Online Government), Mr. Tony Plothow (U.S. History), Mr. Ryan Rust (Geometry A), Mrs. Richter (English credit recovery) and Mrs. Dena McLochlin (Geometry B).
One other teacher takes summer school, in a way. “During the school year, I usually take 1-2 classes and in the summer months, I take 2-3 classes. I guess you could say I go to summer school. I enjoy it a lot. I think it is important that students be lifelong learners,” Mr. Kyle Coffman said.
Some teachers who coach sports extend that into the summer. Mr. Michael Delp said that he, along with a few students, spends around 30 hours each week giving tennis lessons to children during the summer.
Mr. Josh Martin also coaches soccer during the summer.