Five teachers walked into a bar… Actually these five teachers, the current crop of Hermitage/Florida Alliance for Arts Education STARs, have walked into a bar, a bowling alley, a pizza place, another bar and a spin class.
Teachers, you see, tend to get up early (out of habit) and work during the day (also out of habit). With their nights freed from grading papers, planning lessons and data entry, and with no family obligations, the STARs are finding themselves in a very unusual situation. They have time on their hands.
It doesn’t hurt that Beverly, Kristen, Melanie, Rocky and Ramiro instantly bonded at their welcome dinner and have eaten together as a group almost every evening and hung out at the Hermitage or elsewhere around town, after that. They’ve brought folding tables to the Gulf to enjoy the dinners they’ve been preparing for each other, converting their “personal” food shelves into one big communal fridge. They’ve salsa danced on the porch, sung karaoke in the Pump House (sorry no video of either) and even bought an outdoor game set complete with a volleyball net and Smashminton. And apparently their students aren’t the only ones who enjoy temporary tattoos, squirt guns and colored chalk from the Dollar Store. “Teachers are fun-loving people,” said Beverly, in that understated teacher’s way.
I got the chance to hang with the STARs at a weekly trivia game, because why stay in on a Monday night when you can go out and play right? When it came to choosing a team name, there was no hesitation because apparently, these STARs have a group “word” and thus we were the STAR Secretions (don’t ask, I didn’t).
I did however ask why four out of five of these teachers came to trivia night with no pen. That was the first question at trivia night they couldn’t answer.
It became apparent early that the STAR of this team was Kristen, when she snatched the game sheet to scribble the answer to an early question. I should say that Kristen is the youngest STAR and her correct answer was The Andrews Sisters.
She also got the name of a character from West Side Story, a Charles Dickens novel and just about every wacky answer in a puzzle of mixed up TV show titles. Kristen is very “enthusiastic” said Melanie, who added that the dance she did after every strike she got on bowling night was “the cutest thing ever.” Oh did I mention that when they went bowling, and that they all chose fake names for the score sheet.
Alas, even after successfully naming all five children on the Cosby Show (way to go Beverly) for the 20-point bonus question, our team came in third and out of the money by just two points. (If we had a history teacher we’d have been home free).
But winning wasn’t the goal of the game. It was obvious the STARs were just looking for one more way to hang out together and have a good time. Teachers, more than anyone, except maybe their students, realize that before you know it summer will be over. When it’s a summer this special, you’ve got to get the most out of every minute, whether it’s writing, creating sculptures or grilling kabobs and dancing on the porch while you watch the sun set.
–Sharyn Lonsdale
You can meet our STARS at 6 p.m. Friday, August 9 when they open their studios, read from their work and play their music on the Hermitage beach. Open Studios and tours of the campus begin at 6 p.m. and the beach program at 7 p.m. Bring your own chairs and refreshments. The program is free and open to all but it is weather permitting so if the weather looks questionable or threatening, call our office at 941-475-2098 or visit our Facebook page. Hope to see you there.