Many teachers prefer to work during the summer and look for special summer jobs for teachers to provide supplemental income, an interesting job experience, or both. While many summer jobs are fine for teachers too, with their advanced education and experience with children teachers are ideally suited to several special summer jobs.
Recommendations for Summer Jobs for Teachers
If kicking back by the pool isn't your style, consider one of the following five job areas that use your education, intelligence and experience as a teacher.
National Park Service Jobs
The National Park Service employs 16,000 people annually in all 50 United States. Park employees may help with ground maintenance or give tours. Teachers often make the best tour guides especially of historic places and places with scientific interest. A science teacher, for example, would make an excellent tour guide through Mammoth Cave National Park, able to explain the geological formations and biological activity within the case in an interesting and compelling way. And who better than an American history teacher to work at such national historic sites as Appomattox Courthouse National Historic Park or Gettysburg? If you're a teacher interested in using your subject knowledge as part of your summer work, apply directly to the park of interest or through the federal National Park Services job website, searching by state, location and type of job to narrow down your search.
Museums and Historical Sites
Similarly, teachers may find excellent and unusual summer job opportunities at museums and historical sites. Their ability to teach and speak intelligently about history, art, and other issues may make them excellent candidates to give guided tours or for special projects at both museums and historic sites of interest. Visit the careers page of websites for historic sites or museums of interest or call directly to see if there are any job opportunities.
Camp Counselor
Camp counselor positions may conjure images of teenagers seeking summer employment, but many camps look for teachers for leadership positions. Additionally camps for music and the arts often seek experienced teachers rather than high school students for counselor positions. Don't write camp counselor jobs off of your list, but instead seek specialized roles that may be ideal summer jobs for teachers.
Tutor
Use your teaching skills to teach and tutor mathematics, English, science and other disciplines. Many tutoring centers run special summer intensive programs to help students who are struggling with basic subjects. GED programs also need teachers, and although many hire year round, these are usually evening or weekend positions for certified teachers.
Writer
If you love to write and have a gift for words, you can write during the summer months and earn extra money. The internet has opened up many new opportunities for writers. Content companies, for example, hire writers, who then go into an online system and choose exactly which assignments they wish to write. You are paid a flat fee for each accepted article and the fee is stated before you accept the article. Ghost writing, writing white papers and scholarly papers, and many other types of writing call for both strong writing and research skills, something teachers typically possess.
The typical summer job often involves food service, tourism, or outdoor work. Teachers seeking summer jobs should look for positions that combine a change of pace, such as outdoor work, with their intellectual skills and interests. Once you find a position you like, your summer fun has only just begun!
