Jeff Grills blows a conch shell while on a two-week trip to Hawaii in 2000 with other teachers from Frederick County.

But as kids of all ages gear up for school-free days and as classrooms become utterly quiet and still, one has to wonder -- what happens to the teachers?

Melissa Harmel is a pre-dental hygienist student at Frederick Community College. While she now has a more realistic view of her teachers' lives during the summer break, she recalled thoughts from when she was younger.

"I thought they stayed in the classroom and worked," Ms. Harmel, 22, said. "You don't think about their personal lives when you are a kid, they are just constantly teachers."

In reality, teachers spend their summers in a variety of ways, much like the students they teach.

Education and fun

Jeff Grills, co-director of Frederick County Public Schools Earth and Space Science Laboratory, works as a teacher 12 months of the year.

Although he doesn't get two months' vacation in the summer like most teachers, he still makes time for a fun-filled adventure.

Headed by Mr. Grills, 21 teachers from Frederick County will travel to Loreto, Mexico, in hopes of enhancing their teaching skills.

This is the fifth trip Mr. Grills has planned for Frederick teachers in the past nine years.

"Most trips are either all fun or totally educational," he said. "My trips all have both educational aspects with fun activities. It can be difficult to find something that fits this philosophy."

The teachers and their guests will total 30 people. They will leave July 29 and spend a week on the Sea of Cortez at the Loreto Marine Sanctuary.

Mr. Grills explained why trips such as these are so enlightening. "Teachers are inquisitive," Mr. Grills said. "I love organizing things, and it is always an adventure for me, too."

Activities will include snorkeling, kayaking and a mule ride along an original mission route running along the coast of California. The group will spend a day studying sea lions and perhaps some dolphins.

"I try to think about the different activities we can do and what teachers can get from them," Mr. Grills said.

Fourteen of the teachers will be earning three credits for making a lesson plan and keeping a journal of the activities. This is part of a non-accredited course meeting requirements for Frederick schools' certification.

Sarah Alderman, a music teacher at Ballenger Creek Elementary, is one of the teachers who will receive credit for traveling with the group.

This will be her second trip with Mr. Grills, as she traveled to Costa Rica with 20 teachers in 2002.

"Jeff does a great job organizing the trips," Ms. Alderman said. "We get to do things we wouldn't normally do."

Ms. Alderman called her trip a "two-in-one" deal because not only will she be using this time to gain credits toward certification requirements, she will also celebrate her 25th anniversary at the Sea of Cortez with her husband.

Amy Boehman, who will also be going on the trip, just finished her ninth year as a teacher and second year teaching third grade at Tuscarora Elementary School.

Ms. Boehman went to Hawaii in the summer of 2000, so this trip will be her second with Mr. Grills. Ms. Boehman said when she was in Hawaii she learned many things about the culture, geology and oceanography.

"Now when teaching about the endangered green sea turtle, I have a first-hand experience to share," she said.

Ms. Boehman tries to incorporate what she learns in the summer into her lesson plans.

"It is a great way to have a vacation," Ms. Boehman said. "I can talk about it all year with the kids and immediately implement it back into my classroom."

While she used her first six summers as a way to earn credit to meet certification requirements, she now uses her summers as a way to get as much information as she can.

"I see the summer as an opportunity to further my knowledge when I come back for the following year," Ms Boehman said.

Respite

Paula Gefaell of Frederick recently finished her first semester as a Spanish teacher at FCC and will spend her summer in Europe on her honeymoon.

Ms. Gefaell's husband, Chris Staub, teaches Spanish at Urbana High School. The newlywed couple will spend the entire summer break visiting places such as Amsterdam and Prague.

The two teachers, who met in Spain, left Monday.

In Europe, Ms. Gefaell and Mr. Staub will also visit her family, who she hasn't seen in eight months.

"This trip is very special," Ms. Gefaell said.

The summer will be a welcome, relaxing vacation from the hard work of the school year, she explained. "I love to teach, but the end of the year is very exhausting." Ms. Gefaell said.

Eric Siegel, 23, just finished his first year as an 11th-grade U.S. history teacher.

"I plan using the time off to recuperate from the year," he said. "I enjoy the fact that I can visit old friends and just relax."

As an assistant junior varsity football coach at Bel Air High School, Mr. Siegel will be spending two to three days a week supervising the school's gym throughout the summer.

He saw this as a way to stay involved in his athletes' lives this summer and a way to earn a few extra bucks, he said.

A blast from the past

Michael Thompson of Frederick , a physics teacher at Thomas S. Wooton High School in Rockville and formerly a physics teacher at Frederick High School for five years, will be spending two weeks this summer catching up on the latest developments in his field.

During the last two weeks in July, Mr. Thompson will visit NASA for a two-week workshop held by research scientists. "The topic will probably confuse me as much as I do my students," Mr. Thompson said jokingly.

In past summers he has attended other workshops, including one in Omaha, Neb., where he learned how new technology can be used in teaching physics.

"This is an opportunity for teachers to sit behind a desk and be the student again," Mr. Thompson said. "It will be nice to be on the other side as the student."