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by Michael Larsen
Section Editor
Teachers have an extraordinary influence on future generations, but what is it like when one of your parents is also your high school teacher?
“I was in middle school last year, and he would come home and be like, ‘I told a bunch of stories about you at school today!’” freshman Robyn Syme said. “I’d get all mad at him because he exposes me to the whole school.”
Students whose parents are also teachers are in a unique position. Academic success is paramount in the eyes of many parents, so it’s only natural that parents who are also teachers will have higher expectations when it comes to school.
“My father, being a teacher, wouldn’t let us get away with stuff,” said art teacher Paul Allred. “Where another student would get away with it, he wouldn’t let us get away with it. If he gave you six hours of homework, you would at least have to do seven so there was no special treatment. I know how it feels.”
Sophomore Hallie Henrie told how she feels like students think that she receives special treatment from her dad. She explained that her dad is very direct in not playing favorites, as is the case for most teachers.
“He knows everything I do, so if I get in trouble at school, I hear about it,” senior Atley Kidder said. “It’s forced me to never get in trouble.”
Even if Atley Kidder can’t get away with anything, he is glad he gets to spend more time with his dad. Kidder looks forward to being with his dad after class. Kidder and his dad both enjoy spending time together at school as well as at home.
“I need to make sure that I’m not saying anything that I really shouldn’t be saying,” said music teacher Timothy Kidder. “I try to keep the personal life at home, and the school life at school. I still can’t help it. Every once in a while I’ll say something about Atley’s hot mom.”
Robyn Syme and her dad, math teacher Matt Syme, have always been close. Robyn Syme is excited to have him as a teacher soon.
“I look up to him a lot,” Robyn Syme said. “I’m really debating whether I’ll be a veterinarian or a teacher because I really love animals, but it being a teacher I can be with my family and be like my dad.”
The parent-child relationship seems to show itself throughout daily life. To some families like the Symes, teaching has an integral part in family ties, but to some, teaching is just like any other job to the kids.
“Overall I try to make high school normal for [my kids],” science teacher Kolby Henrie said. “Because I think back to when I was in high school, and if my dad would have been at the high school as a teacher it might have been weird, so I try and make it the least weird it can be for them.”
Some teachers told how they try not to interfere with their kids’ school life. It’s a difficult situation to be in when you feel you’re tasked with stepping up in the eyes of your family and your peers. In the end, many students who felt this way described how they had to learn that they were just like any other student.
“I guess I just got sick of having the pressure,” Atley Kidder said. “Before, it was like I have to be the best at this because everyone expects out of me, but I don’t have to be the best, so that’s good.”
But the pressure of stepping up to the occasion is not just exclusive to students.
“There is a twinge of pressure,” Matt Syme said. “I want to perform better. I don’t want to disappoint her. That would hurt if your kid thought, ‘That was disappointing how you handled that, dad.’”
In the end, going to school with your child or parent is a good experience. It’s helped both students and parents grow closer. Students told of gaining a better appreciation of their parents and what they do.
“What does annoy me is that sometimes he thinks he’s not that great of a teacher, and I know he’s a good teacher because I have never heard anybody talk bad about him,” Robyn Syme said. “Usually, all I hear is good things about him, but then again, I am his daughter.”
