Chill Out

Everyone knows that the past year or so has been especially rough on teachers, having to adjust to at home learning, having to completely reinvent much of the educational process for their students... but possibly no teacher has handled it better than Laura Naples.

Her thirty years meant Laura had less years teaching under her belt than many, but she had earned accolades each and every year, even during the last year when her creative style of remote learning earned national attention.

If any teacher can handle the frustrations of a summer school catchup program for select students it's Laura Naples... or so she thought before realizing just how reluctant to learn some students can be, and before the school air conditioning broke down.

With the mounting frustration of her assigned four students and the overwhelming heat in the building, Laura is close to the worst she has ever felt about teaching in years. But fortunately she has a fellow teacher who always can offer an answer when she needs one and thankfully the older educator Neal Franklin has more than just some words of encouragement.

Mentioning that rewards always keep his own students focused on the prize that learning offers, he shares that his own students have been particularly motivated by something called Chill Out, especially since the AC has been out.

Chill Out may look like one of those simple misting fans sold for way overpriced prices in theme parks, but as Neal explains, it's very different. Instead of water spraying in a mist when the fan trigger is pulled, it mists out a special liquid coolant that when touching the skin keeps someone cool for up to an hour.

Since Neal happens to have an extra Chill Out on him, he offers it to Laura, mentioning she's a shoo-in for a big teaching grant being given out in coming weeks, a fitting award for a creatively alternative teacher like Laura Naples, and one that comes with $50,000 she can spend on anything she deems educationally appropriate.

But just what does Chill Out do to keep someone so cool, and will Laura be finding all new truly alternative ways to motivate her students? The summer is hot, and one teacher might get a whole lot hotter, by simply putting problems aside to Chill Out.

Readers Choice Month gets educationally alternative and points out just how hard learning can be, especially when you find yourself hot for teacher.