Rodriguez: On the first day of vacation ...

“Do any Baby Boomers of Generation Xers know who Sister Mary Elephant is?” Here is a hint, “Class. Class! CLASS! SHUT UP!”

“Thank you!”

I just finished my second full year of teaching in the public schools, and no, I have never told my class to “Shut up!” However, I came upon this old Cheech and Chong clip as I was blissfully taking in the thought that I will be off of work for the next three months — a hard earned vacation by the way — and was searching for Tommy Chong’s skit, “The first day of my summer vacation.”

It goes like this: “On the first day of my summer vacation, I woke up, then I went to look for a job. Then I hung out in front of the drug store. On the second day of my summer vacation, I woke up, then I went to look for a job. Then I hung out in front of the drug store. On the third day …”

You get the idea.

So what do teachers do during summer vacation?

Well … on the first day of my summer vacation, I will wake up at the crack of dawn. Then I will smile and roll back over in my bed for a couple more hours. Then I will decide what I want to do with the rest of my life … or the rest of my summer. By the way, I will have just gotten back from my first ACTs retreat, a four-day spiritual experience at Black River near Carlsbad. What could be better for a teacher than, only hours after wiping off her dry erase board for the last time this school year, hopping on a bus and being whisked off to Black River to get recharged with God and nature?

Since I was really supposed to work this past Friday, but got special permission to leave a day early, Monday is my first official day of summer vacation. What will I do? My co-worker told me many of her teacher friends work second jobs in the summer to supplement meager salaries. I may work part-time this summer. I also plan to take online classes, which I am teaching, do lesson plans, course outlines, student contracts, work on a history writing project for my church and oh, yeah, have fun in the sun. Some people may not call this a vacation. For me, not having to be up at the crack of dawn every day and having some flexibility in my daily schedule is like being in heaven; that and not having to do lunch duty.

Helena Rodriguez is a Portales native. Contact her at:

[email protected]