In random survey of 10 Morton East teachers 6 of them said they are going out of town for summer break.

As the school year winds down, teachers are looking forward to a well-deserved break during the summer months. While some teachers may choose to spend their summer traveling to unfamiliar places or visiting family and friends, others may prefer to stay closer to home and relax after a busy school year. Still, other teachers may use their summer vacation as an opportunity to attend professional development workshops or volunteer in their communities. Whatever their plans may be, teachers will return to the classroom in the fall feeling refreshed and ready to take on the challenges of a new school year.

“Summer vacation feels like a reset. I get the chance to reflect and think about what I would like to do differently for the next year because, after lesson planning, you can usually find better ways to teach it. The school gives us opportunities over the summer to work on our curriculum, so I do some of that, and you get paid to keep working and developing course work. I do go to conferences sometimes, and I also do grad school, so many teachers have to go back to school to keep taking courses,” said business teacher Christine Tabares.

Unlike business teacher Christine Tabares, AP psychology teacher, Ryan Fischer, has other plans.

“I plan on traveling over the summer. I have gone to teaching conferences in the past, but they were in Chicago. Summer has been my time to rest and recover to heal myself because the school takes a lot out of me. Last summer, I got to exercise more. Teaching can be very exhausting, and summer break gives me a way to visit my family and do other things at times I would be teaching. I have taken classes in the past over the summer, but not this summer,” said AP psychology teacher Ryan Fischer.

Sometimes summer can be a stressful time for teachers.

“I do try to spend as much time as I can on myself and my family and try not to feel guilty about not doing school work, taking classes or working on curriculum. However, I have always either taken classes or worked on curriculum and this summer is not an exception so I will be doing that, um one method that I have tried was trying to do all my work immediately like right when we’re done with school so that I can maybe set aside a whole month for myself,” said world history teacher Marlo Rohde.