Often seen scribbling sigma functions on the whiteboard, furiously typing on a keyboard, or grading papers with a red pen in hand; like students, Garfield teachers are plagued with the daily stresses of school and homework. However, when not confined between the dull, beige walls, sitting upon creaky swivel chairs, and counting down the minutes until the bell’s shriek echoes in the hallway, what do teachers actually do with their lives?
Much to students dismay, teachers don’t sleep in their classrooms and consistently correct tests while eating cold takeout out of a soggy box, and playing endless reruns of Planet Earth and Ellen on the smartboard. Through interviewing some of Garfield’s teachers, I revealed the answer to the mystifying and perplexing question: do teachers socialize?

Mr. Leslie
Q: Do you have a GHS teacher squad you hangout with?
A: “A large group of Garfield teachers engage in a weekly debrief session on Friday afternoons at a local establishment, and that’s a good sort of group therapy session… There’s a lot of people who like to do sort of a Friday Happy Hour thing and just talk about the week, responsibly of course!”
Q: What’s your favorite weekend activity?
A: “I think having a late brunch with my wife…and our dog Bonkers…he’s a crucial part of weekends. If it’s nice out, we’ll take him to the dog park, and watch him be socially awkward around the other dogs.”
Q: What does a casual weekend day look like?
A: “We [Leslie and his wife, Daniela Di Iorio] are on a pretty highly competitive pub trivia team… we go to the national championships. Um, Binge watching TV, I’m watching Glee at the moment… I don’t know how relaxing that is, watching a show about high school. And then, my other sort of life is as a musician, so usually there’s music stuff, whether it’s band practices, or going to shows, or doing shows…I sing and play guitar primarily.”

Ms. Cohan
Q: What’s your weekend hobby/sport?
A: “I like to paint, I do watercolor, and I paint mostly dogs. That’s been my new hobby!”
Q: What does a casual weekend day look like?
A: “I wake up later than normal, I’ll sleep in…Sometimes I like to go for a walk, depending on the weather, at Seward Park…I generally will see some friends on the weekend, um, for lunch or for dinner, usually around a meal…Currently I have a little 4th grade basketball team that I coach, so on Saturdays we have games, and so that’s fun!”
Q: What does a night out look like?
A: “We might go out to dinner…and go out. My girlfriends like to go dancing, so they always try to get me to go dancing, and I will occasionally.”

Ms. Dinh
Q: What’s your weekend hobby/sport?
A: “In the springtime, we go to the Mariners. And then, When it’s not nice out, just kinda playing with my pup, eating at different restaurants, and I like to watercolor…I have these coloring pages that I printe from this lady I found of Instagram…it’s kind of like a coloring book for watercolor.”
Q: What does a casual weekend day look like?
A: “Eat bagels in the morning, because we are from the East Coast. And then, we usually squeeze in an episode of Game of Thrones… If there’s, like, school stuff going on, I try to make it to some of those!”
Q: What does a night out look like?
A: “I don’t do nights out… my partner will go and hangout with his friends, and usually that’s when I do my coloring…and just like watch my own shows like This Is Us.”
Q: What’s your favorite weekend activity?
A: “I love napping. I just really love it.”
Q: Do you have a GHS teacher squad you hangout with?
A: “Mr. Zimm is my work husband, Ms. Pelland is my work wife. Ms. Cohan, Ms. Gun usually I also do stuff with…I’m pretty immersed in the teacher scene.”