In the words of Alice Cooper, “Schools out for summer!” For a couple of months there will be, “no more pencils, no more books and no more teachers’ dirty looks.” So what are all the teachers doing while on their eight-week vacation?

Most people think teachers don’t do anything all summer. Around here people might think they are beach bums, wasting the days away in the sun. That’s usually not the case. Teachers always have a new curriculum to learn, new assessments and programs to review, new lessons and methods to create, professional development and planning sessions. Not to say it is all work and no play, but the teachers I know don’t squander away their summer days. They might be poolside, but they are probably catching up on reading the latest educational blogs or interpreting the most recent student studies. And many of them, unfortunately, have summer jobs to help make ends meet on an educator’s salary.

Katie, a teacher friend of mine, had her students write down what they think teachers do during the summer break. Their responses were creative, however, they all had a comical but similar theme … drinking cocktails.

In response to the students’ presumptuous answers, I have devised the perfect summer cocktail for all the teachers and other summer vacationers. I call it the Summer Slush. It mixes sugary citrus flavors in a frozen concoction full of gin and soda, and it quenches and pops with freezing flavor. If only they could bring it to the staff meeting in August. Happy summer to all you hard-working teachers out there!