It is a well known fact that teachers do not get paid nearly as much as people with other professional occupations. Because teachers get paid a small amount of money, many of them find interesting side jobs either to do during the summer, or during the school year.

One would  think that teachers that have a second or third job would work in a field similar to their teaching job. This is not the case, however, with Theatre director and Drama teacher at LHS, Lance DeRoos. DeRoos has been working at the front desk of the Holiday Inn for the past seven years. Despite the two jobs appearing to be completely different, DeRoos’s teaching skills sometimes transfer over to his job at the Holiday Inn.

“It´s completely different from education ,yet it’s not because you’re still interacting with people. You’re still training people,” said DeRoos.

Teachers and professors do not always choose side jobs because of their educational background.

“I had been teaching for a long time but I had always really wanted to do something with hotels or restaurants. My wife thinks I’m crazy, but…” said DeRoos.

Other educators, like Sam Anderson, have side jobs that are very similar to their main jobs. Anderson is one of the two band directors at LHS. When he is not  teaching he is playing trumpet with the South Dakota State Orchestra. He does not do this very much, however.

“ [I only do it] sometimes. Infrequently…occasionally,” said Anderson.

Even though a lot of teachers adopt more than one job for financial reasons, Anderson plays with the Symphony for a variety of reasons.

“The money’s very nice and they make it worth my time, which is good, but I also do it for the experience. Just playing with those great musicians is good for me. It makes me stay in shape and at the top of the game,” said Anderson.

Dan Carlson, the other band director at LHS, also has another job that is related to music. During the summer he writes marching band drill for different bands across the region.

“It works out pretty well, and I know how to do it, which not many people do,” said Carlson.

Carlson’s side job not only acts as a means of making money, but also as  a way for him to get in tune with his creativity, and a way for him to have a change of pace during his summer break.

“ It’s the exact time that I am able to take on something else,” said Carlson. “I like it because it´s a good introvert job because I get to sit in my basement away from people for a little while, which really contrasts with this job where I’m around people all the time. I kinda need that decompression time a little bit in the summer time where I can just isolate myself.[..] It’s a creative outlet.”

It’s incredibly interesting to learn more about the teachers at LHS and their lives outside of school. These teachers are just a few of the dozens of wonderful teachers that work at LHS.