School’s out, but not for some Butler County teachers

It’s an old joke among the teaching profession but the hundreds of area instructors spending their summer break learning new classroom techniques at Miami University’s West Chester Twp. campus still don’t think it’s funny.

“What are the three best things about teaching?” goes the joke.

Answer: “June, July and August.”

But it doesn’t apply to them, said Butler County teachers attending math and writing summer courses and workshops at Miami’s Voice of America Learning Center.

The school calendar year is often hectic, and time for professional development is scarce, said teachers. Summer break allows them to concentrate on professional development and completing state-mandated teacher certification classes to improve their classroom instruction and make them eligible for promotions.

“These two programs are designed for (K-12) teachers and focus on subject matter content,” said Rod Nimtz, director of the Learning Center.

“This program has inspired me to learn how to teach writing and it has been a phenomenal program for me,” said Heather Packo, a Fairfield High School special education teacher.

The seven-week summer writing program, one of the more popular professional development courses offered at the learning center since it opened in 2009, also allows teachers to meet their colleagues from other area school systems and exchange ideas, said Packo.

“It’s really interesting to see how much of a small world it really is. I’ve met teachers from other school districts,” she said.

The 20-acre learning center off of Cox Road is part of Butler County Metro Parks’ Voice of America Park and Miami built the single, 23,000-square-foot building campus to bring some of its programs closer to the heavily populated and still growing West Chester Township communities.

Besides the learning center, Miami University also has a variety of summer learning programs at its two regional campuses in Middletown and Hamilton as well as its main campus in Oxford.

The summer math courses, which have been offered since 2009, are also popular among local teachers.

“This location is fantastic,” said Packo. “It’s smack in the middle of everyone lives and works.”

Jama Singh, a 3rd-grade teacher from Lakota Schools’ Cherokee Elementary, appreciates the learning center summer offerings because “it’s right here in the area.”

“You hear great speakers who are very inspiring and get you excited about getting back into your own classroom. And you definitely get ideas from other teachers because teachers are the best encouragers to one another,” said Singh.

The misconception about teachers and summer, said Singh, is “that teachers sit around and don’t do much of anything but we do spend a lot of time learning and learning in groups.”

“The best teachers are the best learners and these opportunities in the summer give you a fresh perspective on a lot of different ideas on teaching,” she said.

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