Paul Whitty as Luggs in Sheep's Clothing by Spencer Deering
If you can get an educator drunk enough on a Friday night, even the best of ’em will admit that they teach for three reasons: June, July, and August. Sure it can be a pain to drag kids toward the intellectual, spiritual, or physical promise land hour after hour, but it’s comforting to know that even the worst days end with a bell at 3:00. (I can already hear the English majors’ howls: “What about paper grading, huh? Committee meetings? Parent/teacher conferences??” OK, OK, you’re right: tough days can drag on until 4:00.)
But seriously, folks inside education and those outside education can’t quite agree on how rigorous a teaching job really is. Insiders want respect for the tough work they’re doing for very little relative remuneration. Outsiders want admission that a guaranteed two weeks off in December may just be worth getting attacked by a 250 lb. behaviorally challenged student wielding a penknife.
Bottom line? Few teachers are lazy. Of course, some are, just like that rare cubicle bunny who wastes away repeated afternoons researching belly lint on Wikipedia instead of putting the finishing touches on their PS three reports due the following week.
But (cue the angelic voices harkening the hero) . . .
For one night, let’s give props to those educators most often disparaged for being the absolute laziest—gym teachers, driver’s ed teachers, shop teachers, etc. For these men and women the three o’clock bell is no quitting-time whistle, but rather a beckoning into the squared circle where the real work happens: after-school sports. Every afternoon and most weekends, for no or very little pay, coaches trudge onto the field, into the gyms, and over the tracks to yell at, laugh with, and compete for kids who stand shoulder to shoulder ready to make some memories. So let’s give a hand to the athletic departments (especially those that routinely field teams who crush the competition).
Oh, and all this goes for theatre departments, too. And orchestras.
Charleston City Paper interview about Sheep’s Clothing
“Sheep’s Clothing a clash of ideas in locker room” (review by William Furtwangler, Post & Courier)