Teachers’ Previous Jobs

Teachers at Lakeland have had many different types of jobs, from cleaning motels to framing houses. 

Having different job experiences has helped them become better teachers at LHS. 

Dustin Frank, a math teacher at Lakeland has had experience with framing houses before he went into education. 

“Framing is a labor-intensive job. It requires hard work. It makes me very thankful to do what I do. Teaching has its challenges and can be difficult at times but I would rather experience my worst day of teaching than any day of framing,” Frank said. 

Frank learned that he is very grateful to have a job that is not labor involved. 

“Framing taught me that I am not a very good framer,” Frank also added. 

Other teachers, like Sara Teel, have had many different types of jobs before becoming a teacher. 

“I’ve been a grocery bagger, hotel maid, telemarketer, camp counselor, and teacher,” Teel mentioned.  

Teel learned good life skills when doing these jobs early in her life. 

“It taught me to work with others whether we got along or not and helped me be more accepting of individual differences,” Teel said. 

Teel believes that students at LHS should also get a job while going to high school so they can learn helpful skills as well.

“I believe that having at least one job during your high school years (even if only during the summer) provides students with the opportunity to experience real-world applications of things they’ve learned as well as instilling a strong work ethic and teaching them acceptance, perseverance and patience. These are skills that can be applied to any career,” Teel said. 

Rebecca Hasz spent her years as a teenager cleaning motels. 

“My first job was cleaning motel rooms. I started when I was a 9th grader and did that job until I graduated college during the summer and weekends,” Hasz said. “I realized that job was necessary but not one that I wanted to do for the rest of my life.” 

Cleaning motels is not the only other job Hasz has done. She has had a lot of experience in different types of jobs. 

“I have worked at McDonald’s and Granny’s Buffet, the Forest Service, Sears, Kibbie Dome Supervisor,  In Bound Telemarketing and teacher,” Hasz mentioned. “I loved working for the Forest Service as well as at the Kibbie Dome. Obviously, teaching is my most favorite by far, but if I wasn’t doing this I would love to work in the woods.”

Hasz thinks that people should keep their minds open before they decide what career they should go in. 

“Working in a variety of positions and with a variety of people I think has given me a wealth of experience to see things from different perspectives.  In general, I think it’s important to be open to a variety of opportunities,” Hasz said. “Don’t be afraid to apply for the job you want. A career is different from a job so if you find yourself in a career you don’t enjoy, don’t be afraid to switch lanes.”

Teachers like Shannon Hall knew that they would go into a job involving kids since they first started working. 

“My first job was babysitting, and I started doing that at age eleven. Because of the ease of babysitting for me, I knew that being responsible for children was something I was good at overall. It didn’t lead me to become an educator, but it didn’t dissuade me from it,” Hall said. 

Hall also had a wide variety of past jobs. 

“In addition to babysitting, I have worked fast food, waitressing, retail, grocery, and manual labor jobs. I am really glad that I worked a variety of odd jobs before becoming a teacher. It makes me value this position as a career whereas everything else I did prior to teaching was just a job,” Hall mentioned.