Students often joke that teachers practically live at school. Between early classes, after-school activities and late emails, it sometimes seems like teachers never really leave campus.
Teachers’ days don’t always end when the last bell rings. Many stay after school to finish grading assignments, planning lessons or helping students who need extra support. English teacher Trish Petersen pointed out how time consuming the job can be.
“Lots of grading papers,” she says. “English teachers grade lots of papers.”
For many teachers, the work continues long after students head home. Essays, tests and projects can quickly pile up, especially for classes that require lots of handwritten work. Similar to how students might spend an hour or two on homework, teachers sometimes spend hours reviewing and giving feedback as well.
Because of the amount of work teachers have outside of the classroom, some say staying late at school is the easiest way to get things done. In fact, Petersen admitted that when her schedule gets extra busy, she sometimes stays longer than most people would expect.
“So that’s why, sometimes when I’m overworked, I’ll just spend the night here and no one knows about it,” says Petersen.
While the idea of sleeping at school might sound strange, the campus apparently has a few unexpected resources that could make it possible. Around campus, there are places that could easily double as temporary rest areas after a day of work.
“[My favorite is the] PE locker room; it has yoga mats,” Petersen says.
Teachers who stay late also have access to things like vending machines, empty classrooms and quiet hallways that make it easier to focus. Compared to grading papers at home with distractions, the quiet of campus after hours can actually be helpful for finishing assignments.
Of course, staying overnight at school isn’t exactly comfortable. Once the campus clears out and the hallways are empty, things can start to feel a little eerie.
“There are sometimes ghosts roaming around,” Petersen says.
Petersen claims that the ghosts wandering around are from “Macbeth,” specifically, the ghost of Banquo, who haunts students to force them to complete their English assignments. Along with ghosts, the campus may have some sewer problems that attract rats after hours.
“There’s rats running everywhere,” Petersen says. “It’s just really quiet, but sometimes I can hear little scratching sounds, and I get scared.”
Even though the idea of teachers staying overnight might sound surprising, it also reflects how much time and effort teachers put into their jobs behind the scenes.
“I’m pretty sure [staying overnight] is not allowed, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
