Audio clip
Pat Goldsmith
Summer vacation is in full swing, but some teachers just can't sit still.
For years, Red Bank Elementary School psychologist Pat Goldsmith wanted to take a weeklong river paddling trip. So when her husband, David, found out about one on the Internet, she knew this summer was her time.
After her husband politely but emphatically refused to accompany her, Ms. Goldsmith recruited friend and Tyner Academy art teacher Tamara Salter to come along.
Taking advantage of one of the "nice perks" of working at a school and having summers off, the two women spent a week paddling almost 100 miles along the Coosawattee and Oostanaula rivers in Georgia in two touring kayaks, camping at local high schools along the way.
"It's not a glamorous vacation," Ms. Goldsmith said, laughing.
But despite kayaking eight hours a day during one of the hottest weeks of the year, the 15-year paddling veterans said they ended the trip tired and hot, but not a bit sore.
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Staff Photo by Tim Barber Pat Goldsmith, left, Hamilton County Schools psychologist, stands with fellow paddler Tamara Salter, art teacher at Tyner Academy, as they talk about a 90-mile paddling trip they completed recently through North Georgia.
"It just makes you want to do it even more," Ms. Salter said.
The women were joined by more than 300 fellow paddlers on the Paddle Georgia trip, organized by the Georgia River Network.
Ms. Goldsmith and Ms. Salter were two of only four Tennessee participants in the trip, which was for all age and ability levels, they said.
"Everyone was there for the same reason," Ms. Goldsmith said. "We were a community of paddlers for that one week."
While paddling, learning about river ecology and visiting museums and archaeological sites along the way, Ms. Salter said she kept wishing some of her students were on the trip. In the future, she said she is considering organizing a slightly shorter trip where she can bring her students.
"I would love to do this with students," she said. "A week is a long time for teenagers."
Ms. Goldsmith already has taken her love of paddling back to her school by organizing trips for teachers at Red Bank. She said her paddling adventure reinforced the need for stress-relieving activities.
"Anyone who works for the school system needs to find something (to relieve stress)," she said.
Kelli Gauthier covers K-12 education in Hamilton County for the Times Free Press. She started at the paper as an intern in 2006, crisscrossing the region writing feature stories from Pikeville, Tenn., to Lafayette, Ga. She also covered crime and courts before taking over the education beat in 2007. A native of Frederick, Md., Kelli came south to attend Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in print journalism. Before newspapers, ...
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