Whoever said, “Those who can’t, teach,” has never met this group of celebrities. Here are some teachers who went on to slightly higher-paying careers.
Sting
Although the students would have referred to him as Mr. Sumner, Sting went to the Northern Counties Teacher’s Training College from 1971 to 1974 and taught for two years at St. Pauls First School in Cramlington in northeast England. As an elementary level school teacher Sting taught a variety of subjects.
According to one source, Sting used to write songs while his students were taking tests.
Stephen King
Best-selling horror-author Stephen King graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in English from the University of Maine. He also received a certificate to teach high school. King lived in a rundown trailer while teaching English at the Hampden Academy in Hampden, Maine. Hampden is a public high school established in 1803.
King wrote short stories to help make ends meet and began a few novels while he taught – one of which was Carrie, the novel that would launch his career.
Gene Simmons
After graduating high school, Gene Simmons went to college to get a degree in education. While in college he performed in a number of bands, which never went anywhere. Simmons graduated college and became an elementary school teacher in Spanish Harlem before finally meeting up with Paul Stanley and launching KISS.
Art Garfunkel
Art Garfunkel, as half of Simon and Garfunkel, on of the most successful duos of all time, earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Art history and a Master’s degree in mathematics. Garfunkel met Paul Simon in sixth grade and the two performed underthe names Tom and Jerry. Garfunkle adopted the monicker, Tom Graph (showing his early interest in mathematics) because he liked to graph hits from the pop charts.
After college, Garfunkel taught at the Litchfield Preparatory School in Connecticut, during which time “Bridge Over Troubled Water” became a hit.
Roberta Flack
Best known for hits such as “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, this celebrity graduated from Howard University at age 19. She began pursuing a master’s degree in music, but after her father’s sudden death, she was forced to take a job teaching English and music in Farmville, North Carolina. She then moved Maryland and taught in the Montgomery County school system for several years before finally breaking out with her musical career. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999.
Andy Griffith
Mayberry’s favorite sheriff graduated from UNC with a degree in music in 1949. After graduating, he worked at Goldsboro High School as a music teacher until 1951. While teaching he recorded his famous “What It Was, Was Football” monologue that would catapult him to celebrity status.
Sheryl Crow
The popular singer of songs such as “Everyday is a Winding Road” and “All I Wanna Do” graduated with a degree in education from the University of Missouri. She was an elementary school music teacher at Kellison Elementary School in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton. Missouri. She supposedly worked there to be closer to her then-current fiancé.
Crow’s teaching schedule allowed her to work on the side as a musican, writing jingles for commercials. One jingle, fittingly for a “back-to-school” ad for a local department store led to her landing work writing jingles for McDonalds and Toyota. Spurred by her success, she moved to Los Angeles and began singing backup for Michael Jackson before landing her own recording contract with A&M; Records in 1990.
Next time you give your teacher a hard time, just remember, your teacher today might be tomorrow’s famous celebrity.
