Teachers do not solely dedicate themselves to the students they teach every year. With families, hobbies, and other responsibilities they must attend to, their day does not end when the McDowell High School bell rings. For some, it finally starts.

Amanda Johnson, a learning and emotional support teacher at McDowell, spends her hours outside of school at a second job at local flower shop Alburn Florist. There, she puts together flower arrangements and helps to set up weddings, as well as working the front counter taking calls and orders. She started three years ago and now works part time during the school year and full time in the summer. 

“I love that you meet so many different people in so many different aspects,” Johnson said. “You have people who are coming in who are celebrating an anniversary or a birthday or you work with families who are grieving and ordering flowers.” 

Although some people like the social aspect of their hobby, others enjoy the musical aspect. Scott Boyd, a guidance counselor at McDowell, enjoys playing the Great Highland Bagpipes. Boyd started playing in 2018 when he went to a Highland dance festival and was inspired to pick them up from there. 

He finds it both relaxing and challenging to play and memorize the music, which he sees as a benefit. According to him, memorizing music can actually help with memory and with a family history of Alzheimer’s, “doing anything and everything to try and keep my mind sharp” is a priority.

Another teacher looks at his hobby as pure fun. Brian Burruss, the physics teacher at McDowell, enjoys taking part in the world-building game of Dungeons and Dragons in his spare time. Dungeons and Dragons is a tabletop roleplay game in which players can create their own characters to play as a team in imaginary adventures narrated and guided by one player known as the Dungeon Master. 

However, this isn’t a one-and-done game. Some games, or campaigns as they call them, can take days or even weeks to finish depending on the length of the imaginary journey. Players take turns making decisions in problem solving, combat, and exploration with the use of dice. Burruss’s favorite aspect of the game is actually being in charge as the Dungeon Master, the player who organizes the details and challenges of the adventure and sometimes referees the play, not unlike his role as teacher in his day job. 

Burruss’s advice to new D & D players about his favorite pastime is good advice for anyone looking to start a new hobby.  

“You need to be okay with not knowing what could possibly happen, both as a player and a gamemaster. As a player, you get to do just about anything so you need to be able to act immediately.”