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Schools
'Hey, Teach, what'd you do over summer vacation?'
By JANE MADDEN WELCH
Published August 6, 2005
Students weren't the only ones who ended three months of summer freedom Wednesday. Teachers, too, returned to the classroom with tales to tell of their summer exploits.
Here's what a few North Pinellas teachers did with their free time:
Kathie O'Leary, art teacher at Hunsinger Exceptional School in Clearwater:
Spent three weeks in Thailand with her husband, helping out at an orphanage and with a project for women with AIDS.
Participated in an art workshop and literacy training.
Attended a family wedding in Louisiana, babysat her grandnieces.
Cleaned and rearranged everything in her closets and garage.
"It's been a busy and great summer," O'Leary said. "I'm inspired to get off to a good start for the new school year."
Randy Webster, a physics and marine biology teacher at Clearwater High School, and his wife, Carla, a theater teacher at Palm Harbor University High:
Spent three days in Key West.
Went to the Indianapolis 500, where they celebrated a relative's 70th birthday.
Traveled for two weeks in New England, mostly along the coast of Maine.
I got to see how many lobsters I could eat," Carla Webster said. "It was an enjoyable summer."
Monica Talley (formerly Wilson), head of the physical education department at Tarpon Springs High School:
Got married in Clearwater during the summer. The wedding party came into the reception by sailboat.
Honeymoon was spent in Hawaii, where they did some great surfing.
"Students and faculty will have to get used to my new name," Talley said.
Ron Marston, a physical education teacher who transferred from Sunset Hills Elementary in Tarpon Springs to San Jose Elementary in Dunedin, and his wife, Sandi, a second grade teacher at Sunset Hills Elementary:
Ron Marston worked on his thesis, pursuing an education specialist degree at USF. He made a presentation at a character education conference in Tennessee.
Caught up on yard work, planted new shrubs, pressure-washed the house.
Visited North Carolina, staying in a mountain cabin for a 10-day vacation.
"I devoured the new Harry Potter book as soon as it came out," Sandi Marston said. "But now we're ready for the new school year."
Mark Hunsinger teaches sixth- and eighth-grade science at Largo Middle School:
"On first day of summer I caught a 37-inch redfish, but much of the fishing season was spoiled by Red Tide," he said.
Took a computer workshop.
Worked on the house, repaired sprinklers, painted the interior, put up a stockade fence.
"Being away from the house (back at school) almost feels like a break," Hunsinger said. "This is not like a job; I love what I do."
[Last modified August 6, 2005, 01:37:26]
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