Are there any public school teachers or administrators intending to hike the AT this year? I will be starting at Springer on Mar 4, and would be interested in finding some hiking partners whose brains I might pick. I am contemplating returning to grad school to become a high school math teacher and am desperate for words of wisdom and guidance.
Helium
Helium. I’m a section hiker and a school administrator, after being a teacher for 20 years. I only get to hike a few weeks every summer. I will say that you have selected a much in demand teaching position. Almost every school in the country wants and needs good math teachers. It looks like you have already decided on teaching in high school, which is a good start. You need to think about private or public schools, urban, suburban or rural schools. First, I would make sure teaching is what you want before going to grad school. Try substituting for awhile, visiting schools and talking to local administrators, they should let you sit in on some classes. Teaching is not for everyone. It can be a great job or an awful job, depending on how much you like it. Remember all those terrible teachers you had, will they went into teaching and never did enjoy it. The good teachers are the ones that love teaching and it shows.
If you do go into teaching you can later try and talk an administrator into allowing you to teach an elective class on camping. I did this for awhile, I loved it. I taught the basic camping skills involved in the outdoors, we or at least I, had a great time. We would also take kids out hiking, camping, kayaking and canoeing.
I would imagine you will find alot of retired teachers/administrators, that may be hiking this spring. Remember, that everyone has a different hiking style, you may not hike for too long together. Good Luck with your teaching decision.
Bilko
Helium, I agree completely with the administrator who replied to you. Great advice! I’ve been an educator for 30 years–six of them as an administrator. I’ll be doing a section hike south this summer, so we may have a chance meeting in August. I’d love to hook up with you to talk. Best of luck on your thru-hike and career choice.
Slow n’ Steady
This is my 8th year of teaching high school and i have been a backpacker all my life. I dont think there is any other career that allows you to hike and campand travel like teaching. Summers and weekends, and holidays and…but there is more to it than that. Somedays i swear that i need to find another career and other days (most days) i would never want to do anything else. Also…forget all the education classes that you take in college, take as many drama and acting classes as you can. They are a thousand times more helpful than education courses. Plus, starting an outing club allows you to share experiences and info with the next generation.
dharmabum1207
Heliuim,
My wife, Rain Queen, and I just completed a Master’s Program that allowed us to become certified, and although it was a lot of work it was well worth it. I worked in the applied science field for a few years after hiking the AT doing watershed rehabilitation work and loved it, but hated the fact that I never had time to do extended trips. So, we went back to school to become teachers, and it was the best decision we ever made. Being a biology/environmental science teacher, job offers have been abundant and from just about everywhere as they will be for a Math teacher.
After our Master’s we decided to hike the PCT before accepting a position. After completing our southbound PCT hike, we had absolutely no problem finding a job in the middle of the school year and were back making money, doing something we love. The statement above… “but there is more to it than that. Somedays i swear that i need to find another career and other days (most days) i would never want to do anything else.” couldn’t be more true. You have to like to work with people, more importantly young people in order to truly enjoy being a teacher. We now are doing something rewarding, and something we love, and have an extended period of time off every year to go on extended backpacking, cycling, and kayaking trips. I highly recommend that you spend a few days in a classroom prior to you making a decision, and I’m sure that would not be difficult to arrange at your local school system. I think teaching allows us to find a balance between the trail life and the “other life” which we both need for our sanity. Good luck with your decision, feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Peace
Jym Beam
jym beam