SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN — Waitresses, bartenders, retail associates, sports coaches — these are just a few of the jobs that teachers across Berrien and Cass counties, and the nation, are picking up outside of the classroom in an effort to bolster their income and support their families.

While it may seem difficult balancing multiple jobs with a career, local teachers say second jobs have given them an opportunity to continue to pursue their passion for teaching.

Their stories

Niles High School English teacher Jenny Nate, of Niles, begins her typical work day at 5 a.m. Up before the sun, Nate is busy running her online operated fitness business, where she helps various clients get on the path to health. By about 7:10 a.m., Nate is out the door and headed to school.  When the bell rings at the end of the school day at 3 p.m., Nate’s work is not yet through and she heads to the school gym, where she serves as a varsity coach for the volleyball team. In the summer, Nate runs a summer school program and other sports related activities, such as youth sports camps.

To most, this schedule would be difficult juggle, but for Nate, a single mother of three, it is a necessity. 

Nate emphasized, however, that she would not have it any other way. She has been a teacher in Niles for 16 years, and her passion for the profession and the district she teaches in is very apparent.

“I love teaching,” Nate said. “There are probably other professions I could go into and make more money, but I feel like one of the lucky ones — I get up every day, and I like coming to work. I love the students I work with. I love the people I work with and I love coaching.”

Nate said she had to find ways to supplement her income so she could remain in the classroom while continuing to support her family.

“I go out and I make it work,” she said.

Nate has been working a job outside of the classroom for past 10 years. Being a coach, Nate found an industrious way to turn her athletic skills into a home business, and this has allowed her to spend more time with her children, she said. She started the business about two years ago and was waitressing prior to that. While it is a busy life, Nate said she does not have any complaints, though she said more competitive pay increases would not hurt.

“I hope the government continues to see the necessity of public schools, instead of making cuts and keep doing what’s right for the kids,” Nate said. “At the end of the day, it is all about the kids and that’s why I do what I do.”

Ring Lardner language arts teacher, Cherie Schaller, of Niles, also has a side gig outside of the classroom. Schaller, of Niles, has been a teacher for 22 years. She also works for Round Barn Winery as a consultant and bartender. She first picked up the second job around 2010, when she said local teachers got a significant pay cut. Schaller, who has two children, said she knew she had to do something to make up the difference.

“It just was a need to take a second job and make all ends meet at that point,” she said.

While Schaller continues to work her second job today, she said it is no longer out of necessity, rather she said she works her second job because it is something she likes to do. 

Like Nate, Schaller said her passion for the classroom motivated her to continue to work as a teacher.

“It’s what I was meant to do my entire life,” Schaller said. “I feel like I was born to be a teacher. I love what I do.”

The story is similar for Cassie Conrod, of Cassopolis. Conrod has served as a substitute teacher about four years in Cassopolis, Edwardsburg and Dowagiac. She now works for the Elkhart Area Career Center, where she teaches veterinary science. She also teaches independent studies as a part-time second job at Glen Oaks Community College in Centreville, Michigan.

Conrod, like many college graduates, entered the career field with student debt.

“By the time you get out of school, and the debt load you have from your college degree, it is hard to pay your loans off,” Conrod said. “Literally, one paycheck a month went to a loan payments. There’s no extra money if you don’t do extra.”

Conrod has been a teacher for 13 years and just like Nate and Schaller, she said she can’t picture herself doing anything else. She said she loves her job and the opportunity to work in the classroom.

But wages and the burden of student debt may be reasons that fewer appear to be entering the education field, she said.

“There is a teacher shortage and we want to encourage people to come back to the profession,” Condrod said. “But most teachers can’t start at $27,000.”

A world with fewer teachers?

David Crim works for the Michigan Education Association’s public affairs department as a spokesperson. The MEA is a self-governing education association, advocating for the rights of more than 100,000 public school professionals.

In the last decade, Crim said Michigan’s three biggest colleges of education: Western Michigan University, Michigan State University and Central Michigan University, have seen a 50 percent enrollment decline.

“Never before have they seen anything like that,” Crim said. “Within the last decade, they are seeing a class half the size of their usual class. That has been a huge change for them. What they are saying is a lot of students are not entering the teaching profession or at that point, entering the teacher prep program, because they realize they could not afford to become teachers.”

Furthermore, Crim said the MEA conducted a survey in which they found that across the state, one in five teachers entering the profession as new teachers, leave within the first five years – a historic high, according to Crim.

“It’s worse than second jobs,” Crim said. “Many of them have left the profession. Many of them are not studying to become teachers that had been in the past — in terms of the number of enrollment.”

Crim said it is not unheard of for teachers across the state to pick up a second job, especially during the summer to help with their income. In fact, he said a teacher in the Utica district, a suburb of Detroit, reached out to tell him that the school was hosting a “second job fair,” where teachers could get connected with opportunities for summer jobs. 

According to data from the Michigan Department of Education, the statewide average for the annual teacher salary between 2017 to 2018 is $62,280. But data collected from the MDE for the 2016-17 year, however, shows Berrien and Cass County teachers are making less than the average.

In the Niles Community School district, the average annual salary is $47,286; for Brandywine Community Schools district, it is $55,056. In Cass County, the average Cassopolis district teacher makes $51,002; in Dowagiac, it is $55,598 and Edwardsburg, $55,197.

According to Data USA, the median household income for all households in Cass County was $46,570 in 2016. The same year, the median household income in Berrien County was $45,980.

For Berrien and Cass county teachers, a love for teaching keeps them in the classroom. As far as what can help the situation, Schaller also mentioned competitive pay or even classroom stipends to help with supplies. A little gratitude could also go a long way, she said.

“There’s a big teacher burnout. They just don’t feel as appreciated as much as they should,” Schaller said. “Some get tired of it, others hang on. But I think the love of teaching is a positive aspect.”