What Do Teachers Do During Preseason?

For students, the two weeks of athletic preseason either represent the conclusion of summer break or the beginning of the fall athletic season. But what exactly does “preseason” look like for teachers? Where do they go, and how do they prepare for the return of students?

Naturally, there’s plenty of planning and organizing to complete for the year ahead, but behind the scenes, teachers are also busy with fun activities.

Seminar teacher and ice hockey coach Emily Wilde spent her summer with her new baby Tommy and also vacationed in Hilton Head and the Outer Banks. When asked about any rituals or superstitions, Wilde commented that she “always bought new sneakers before going back to Holton as a student,” but now she may need some more “work-appropriate shoes.” Of course, she’s always welcome to put on her uniform again and rejoin the student body if she ever wants to wear her non-work shoes again.

Another teacher who had adventures this summer is Biology instructor Rachel Lowenthal. Venturing through the Adirondacks, Switzerland and Maine, she took hikes in each place with her family and friends. Lowenthal mentioned that she was able to “slow down a bit and enjoy being in nature,” a nice break given that she teaches about it all year!

To mentally prepare herself for a long (but enjoyable) year of teaching, she also treats herself to “lots of yoga and meditation, long walks outside to reset, and sometimes a pedicure” before the year begins.

Art teachers Ben Ferry and Monica Campbell also shared their summer experiences and yearly hopes.

Regarding preseason superstitions or rituals, Ferry claimed to “wear the same striped sock inside out on my right foot during the first full moon phase of the month, which happens to begin on a Tuesday during the Autumnal Equinox but only every other leap year.”

On another note, Campbell spent her summer doing “ceramics in a cat-filled studio on a farm in Latvia” and “shopping for Birkenstocks with Mr. Ferry.”

Even though teachers aren’t running sprints or doing fitness testing, they have a lot going on during the summer months outside of their lives at school.