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Certified Teacher

- a Workers On Wheels reader asks....
(Jobs for Teachers)

I am a certified teacher (middle school) and am ready to hit the road as a working camper! Will being a teacher help me find jobs while traveling? Jobs such as the presentations given at campsites, or are those usually rangers?

Coleen, the RVing editor replies

You can put your teaching skills and your teacher certification to work for you as a working camper.

State parks, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and environmental organizations all hire seasonal employees. They also use volunteer work campers. Among other positions, these workers serve as park rangers, naturalists, interpreters, and historians.

The presentations given at campgrounds are done by Interpretive Ranges. But, those rangers are apt to be seasonal hires or volunteers. For the National Park System, rangers in seasonal positions both develop and implement the programs. They teach the historical, cultural, and natural significance of the parks.

As a certified teacher, you may have taken first aid, lifesaving, and CPR classes. Those certifications are highly valuable. Some positions require them. They are an asset for others. And, you can earn money teaching those skills to others.

If you are looking for jobs where you work in exchange for your site, you can probably pick and choose where you want to work with ease. Non-profits often have education as part of their mission and gladly embrace volunteers who want to put together and present an educational program. Museums, community development programs, children's after-school programs, state parks ... the list is about endless.

These are some additional ideas that quickly come to mind where you could use your teaching training and experience as a working RVer: tutoring, teaching special classes to home schooled children, teaching adults at community education programs, doing classes or workshops at snowbird destination resorts, developing a workshop or presentation that you give at schools and service organizations around the country, substitute teaching, teacher on ships, teacher traveling with the circus or carnival to teach their employee's children, doing educational demonstrations at living history farms, doing war re-enactments, doing educational demonstrations at fairs or heritage events....

Other Workers On Wheels readers will likely share more ideas.