A fellow teacher and I were recently discussing the fact that while most teachers who have been working 30+ years tend to “wind down,” I seem to be busier than ever. The things I am currently involved in at school include:

• Asian-American Club: about 50 students whose main activities are bi-weekly gatherings after school to play games; Game Nights which run from 6pm-9pm; and occasional dances;

• Indian Culture Club: about 75 kids whose main activities are a Family Diwali dinner in the Fall; a well-run musical spring revue which entails tryouts, rehearsals, and lots of writing/organizing/editing time for the students; and occasional dances;

• Math Team: we compete on the conference, state, and national level, about a dozen competitions per year; I used to be chairperson of the conference math league, a very time-consuming job which I gave up a few years ago;

• Student of the Month: this was completely created and organized by me, a chance to recognize three-to-four outstanding students each month;

• Faculty Scholarship: another brain child of mine; I organize most of the fundraising as well as the selection of the winning student (or two) each year;

• Target Teach: this is a class in which students work with a mentor teach one period daily, then attend a monthly evening seminar; I am one of the organizers as well as one of the teachers of the seminar;

• PTHEA vice-president: I am the district publicity chairperson, writing/editing the monthly newsletter, but I also deal with many of the problems which arise during the school day, which often eat up a lot of my time when I am at school;

Don’t get me wrong: I enjoy all of these activities, but combined with the several hours per day I spend with students outside the classroom, it is not surprising why I spend my entire weekends catching up on schoolwork.