Summer Break?

Some Clovis Unified School District teachers do anything but relax during vacation

Print

Clovis High School teacher Susie Kelpe doesn't plan to relax during her summer vacation.

The math teacher and swim coach plans to work.

Kelpe flew to South Africa June 10 where she will spend 57 days volunteering for a nonprofit that helps the country's estimated 2 million orphans.

"It's really selfish of me," she said. "It's doing something for someone else that gives you tons of gratification."

This summer several of Clovis Unified School District teachers won't use their nearly three-month vacation. Instead they will work overseas, volunteer for local nonprofits, pursue higher education and take students to the top of Mt. Whitney. Anything but relax.

"We have a lot of teachers with big hearts," said Dan Kaiser, associate superintendent of school leadership. "That doesn't stop with just their own family and own classroom."

Kaiser said teachers have built homes for low-income families, led Boy Scout trips, taught college classes and volunteered at local hospitals. They've been to China, Europe and Mexico.

"Generally speaking, we want folks to decompress a little bit because teaching is a tough job," Kaiser said about the summer trips and activities. "But it doesn't appear to be a job for them. It's a different form of recreation."

On top of the mountain

Every summer Mike Murphy, a fifth-grade teacher at Gettysburg Elementary, takes a group of students to the top of Mt. Whitney. He's taken 90 Gettysburg students since he began the trips in 1989.

"I've got two big signs in my classroom that say 'perseverance' and 'responsibility,' " Murphy said. "I guess it's teaching that."

The students -- fifth-graders going into sixth grade -- hike 65 miles during the eight-day trip. They start at Big Meadows in Sequoia National Monument and end at the top of the highest peak in the contiguous United States. They must carry their own gear and cook their own food.

During the first couple days, students cry and pray for a helicopter to rescue them, Murphy said. By the third day, they are running down the trail on the lookout for bears and good views.

"It's a real growth experience for the kids," parent Luke Serpa said.

Serpa and his 10-year-old son hiked to Mt. Whitney with Murphy last summer. Serpa hadn't backpacked in 30 years, but wanted to spend time with his son.

"He was taught to be a little more independent," Serpa said. "Maybe some of us parents do too much for our kids. It made him a little more responsible."

Serpa said other hikers were surprised to see 10-year-olds hiking in the high Sierra. They would stare and ask questions.

"It really amazed people to see kids that young that far back," Serpa said.

At the end of the trip, the group goes out for hamburgers, and Murphy gives the students "I climbed Mt. Whitney" patches and nicknames earned during the hikes. One student who would splash in every stream they passed was named "I Never Met a Stream I Didn't Like."

Murphy, on the other hand, takes home the energy to complete another year of teaching at Gettysburg.

"Getting on that mountain gives me the inspiration so I can teach fifth-graders for another 180 days without getting tired," he said.

Teaching in Thailand

Debbie Scott, a fifth-grade teacher at Freedom Elementary, can't stop teaching even on her days off.

Scott left the United States June 16 to train teachers at a school in Thailand. She will visit classrooms and offer tips on how the teachers can improve English instruction.

"Now that my kids are grown I have time to give," Scott said.

Scott's youngest son will turn 20 in July.

Last summer was Scott's first trip to Thailand and first trip outside of the United States. She was shocked by the ancient, gold-covered architecture, spicy food and amazing prices. She came home with four designer purses for $10. Yes, they were probably fake, she admitted.

The best part of the trip was the relationship she formed with the Thai teachers. Two of them visited her classroom at Freedom last year.

"It's really fulfilling to go and meet new people and learn about their culture," she said.

Helping to give hope

Kelpe has been on more African safaris than trips to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo.

Every summer she lives at a game farm two hours north of Johannesburg where her evening walks include giraffe and zebra sightings. She trains local teachers to teach health curriculum, and she heads an effort to connect orphans with older South African role models through letter writing.

Kelpe's first trip to Africa was during a safari in Kenya with her father. They were shocked to see 5-year-olds taking care of their younger brothers and sisters because their parents had died of AIDS. They felt guilty lounging at their hotel when the bellboys and maids were living without electricity or running water.

"You couldn't look at these people and not want to help them," Kelpe said.

Kelpe's next trip to Africa was a mission trip with Reaching a Generation, the organization she works with today. Reaching a Generation is a nonprofit that seeks to improve the life of South Africa's 2 million orphans, many of them orphaned because their parents died from AIDS.

Every summer, Kelpe returns to South Africa instead of staying in Clovis and coaching water polo or swimming -- how she used to spend her summer vacation.

"That's just the same old, same old," she said. "What does teaching swimming mean when you have the opportunity to go help someone who doesn't have any help or hope at all?"