As summer approaches, many teachers have already thought out their summer plans. These plans may be leisure-related or they may even be school-related. Band teacher Paula Hardie will be practicing her music skills over the summer.

“This summer I’m going to be going to New York with the band and choir. I will be involved in playing with the La Crosse concert band  which performs in Riverside Park every Wednesday throughout the summer. It’s a chance for me to play some music over the summer. We play different music every week which is really cool, so we pretty much go and sight read the night before as our rehearsal, and then we put on a concert in the park,” said Hardie.

Staying up to date on your skills is important for anyone. Teachers are no exception. Hardie stays current with music performance by playing in the La Crosse concert band. Spanish teacher Jennifer Rukavina will be learning more about Spanish this summer from a more hands on experience.

“We are planning to go to Costa Rica  this summer with our family. For us it’s really good to be immersed in the culture and the language. As teachers we find that if we don’t travel and read books in the language and listen to music, we eventually start to talk like the textbook so it’s really beneficial for us on a professional level and a personal level,” said Rukavina.

By going to Costa Rica this summer, Rukavina will be learning more about Spanish, but will also learn more about the culture. Something that is taught in books, but you can never really understand the culture of a group until you experience it first hand. Math teacher Timothy Young will also be learning some new things over the summer.

“I’ve gotta work at school a little bit. We review the data from test scores in the math department and see how the growth is going. I’m also looking at taking a class workshop in Holmen which involves technology, so that will be a little more professional development for me. We’re also going to take a family vacation down to South Carolina, play some golf and add some numbers up that way,” said Young.

Young plans to take classes to help him develop as a teacher. Taking classes to improve teaching skills is one of many ways that teachers can better themselves. Student media adviser Julie Tiedens plans to do something similar to Young.

“During the summer I like to spend more time with my family. This summer I’ve got some pretty cool things that I’m doing for professional development. The first thing I’m going to do is take a class through Kent State in Ohio. It’s called Advising Yearbook. I’m looking forward to that one. I’m also going to D.C for the PBS NewsHour Bootcamp that they’re doing,” said Tiedens.