Wellness in Retirement – Subbing

by Erika Foley | Wellness Committee Member

How is it you deal with wellness in your retirement life? Many decide they will not deal with anything that is associated with teaching ever again. Others find that subbing or getting involved in volunteer work with their former schools helps keep their minds active, contributing to their social and mental wellness.

I am one of those people who enjoyed going back to the school where I taught for 27 years. I have been subbing there and at two other schools in our community for many years. I also used to go to a few others in the division years ago, but now only sub locally.

The best thing about being there is the social interaction with the administration and staff. There are no former teachers that I taught with left at the local high school, but there are a few students that I taught who are now teachers or subbing there too. Every now and then, there are four of us former teachers subbing on the same day! We always find much to chat about over lunch when we are not on supervision.

The students have changed somewhat, but there are still good students who are friendly and well mannered. They get the work done in the allotted time and are a pleasure to have in any class. There are also those who do not pay attention and do little work, but when one is only in for a day, the stress you feel as a teacher is not that high.

Getting out of the house and socializing with the staff and students does much to help my mental wellness. I average anywhere from four to seven days a month in the classroom and that is all it takes to help the time go by. I even supervised classes during some virtual teaching and have helped supervise student teachers. For those who also sub, may you continue to enjoy it and keep wellness a priority in your retirement.