Teachers work 1,097 hours at school on average, according to The Wall Street Journal. This number is accumulated over the 36 weeks school is in session.

The number above only accounts for the time teachers are required to be in school. Orono teachers get paid for an eight hour work day and are supposed to be at school by 7:15 and stay until 3:00, according to David Benson, principal at Orono High School, whether that time be used for teaching, lunch break or prep hour. This does not take into account the hours of work put in before and after school, over breaks, and on weekends. However, the amount of time spent depends on the subject and course.

“I’m working one hour after school and between 2-3 hours at home. It’s not every night, [usually] 4 out of 7 days a week, and one day a week, I’m up past midnight,” said Mary Singleton, middle school math teacher.

Teachers try and help all the students they can during the day whether that be Spartan Hour (in the high school) or Links (in the middle school), even though it may mean bringing their work home. Links is similar to a study hall and is offered to students who do not participate in band or choir. Spartan Hour is also similar but is given to all high school students and is only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Many teachers find themselves working into the evening.

“I try to limit myself after 5 p.m. I could work until 10 o’clock at night grading papers and answering student and parent emails,” said Kyle Ann Herring, high school English and journalism teacher.

Each subject requires a different amount of work. “Everyone puts in the time; it just looks different depending on their stage in life. We all put in lots of time, but with kids it’s hard to stay late,” said Singleton.

Math teachers need to write assignments, grade homework and tests and prepare future lessons. On the other hand, English teachers occasionally have 65-95 essays to grade on top of planning and writing lessons.

“I like reading what people write, but only if it’s five at a time. Once it becomes 60-90, it becomes draining. It makes me look forward to doing laundry and the dishes,” said Grace Nohner, high school English teacher.

Aside from high school level teaching, other grade levels have other duties they need to prepare for the next day. Though many teachers put time into planning and getting all teachers on track, elementary school teachers have jobs of their own for getting the children of the future ready for today.

Since 20 years ago, the way younger students have been taught has changed, not only for students but for the teachers as well. Now free time is overtaken by meetings. New to teachers is the Professional Learning Committee (PLC) which focuses on working towards reaching teachers goals. Each PLC is divide by eight or so teachers usually based around the same subjects.

“I used to have 8-9 a.m. for a prep, but now four out of the five days are spent in various meetings. Either staff, grade level team or PLC meetings,” said Stephanie Johnson, M.A.C. teacher at the elementary school.

Most teachers do not stop at teaching. Many teachers are coaches or leaders in sports and clubs. These extra curricular activities are not a volunteer service for teachers, and they do receive an additional salary for being a leader or coach. Teachers still need to manage their time to fit teaching and their other activity.

“With Winterfest Week I work 20 hours after school,” said Nohner, who also advises Student Senate. These extra hours are on top of Nohner’s teaching work.

School ties teaching and learning together. Both teachers and students are at school for the same hours, and then at home they do work for the next day and prepare for the rest of the week. Each carry a backpack or bag with the “homework” inside, and each follow a schedule or calendar.

“Everyday I bring home my ‘Bag of Shame’ which is my school bag with all my assignments and work that I need to get done for the next day,” said Johnson, “ I’ve never not been a student, and I’ve never been off a student calendar.”

Many students are angered when a teacher does not hand back an assignment quickly. “If they do not pass it back, then it’s not online, which means I do not know the score,” said Nate Seward, senior.

On the other hand a few students understand how busy teachers can be. “I know they have lives and are busy because my mom does the same thing,” said Maddie Singleton, junior.

Madi Arends is the Layout Chief of The Spartan Speaks.