Bring your kid to work day (repeat 180 times)
December 11, 2014
High school students spend seven hours a day, five days a week on campus. For most, the time acts as a relief period from parents and other family members. However, some don’t fall into that category. 41 North Cobb students share the school grounds with their parents, who are employed either as faculty or teachers.
Connor Armstrong, sophomore, doesn’t enjoy his mom’s company: “She likes to monitor me, and she refuses to write me late passes. But I think her classes are entertaining; they’re very rambunctious.”
Mrs. Armstrong thinks differently, “He doesn’t like having me here. When we were at Allatoona last year, he didn’t like it then either. But I like having him here just because I know his teachers, I can be on top of things better. For me I don’t find that there’s a con unless he does something he’s not supposed to do, and then it’s my co-worker dealing with the problem. Sometimes he makes me late for school because he has to do his hair, but otherwise it’s great.”
English teacher Renee Brown listed the advantages of having her daughter Jessica attend North Cobb as a junior: “I like having her with me because then if there’s a problem at any time during the day she’s already here. I don’t have to go to another school to find her, get her lunch money, or bring her what she forgot. And she has some privileges, because if I need something done I can give it to her and tell her to take it to Mrs. Parisay and I don’t have to tell her where that is because she’s known her since she was three.”
Jessica continued, “From a student’s standpoint, I would say it has its benefits, but it also has its disadvantages. There are people that tell her if I do something wrong; but if I have a problem in a class she can always just talk to the teacher and help me out.”
Morgan White
Latin professor and World Languages department head William Browning reflected on sharing the school with his son Jack, sophomore: “As a parent it’s fun to be able to watch him grow up. As a teacher, especially when he is in my classroom, it gives me an incentive to make sure I’m giving as much as I can, and I can also use him for feedback to see if what I’m talking about doing actually is something people would enjoy. Of course the thing that you don’t want to do is for them to think that you’re prying. I try to give him space, and that’s what it comes down to.”
His son Jack remembered a rather unusual incident shared with his dad at North Cobb, “We had an interesting experience during my first day of school, Snowmageddon, and we had to sleep here. Now there is a plaque above the couch in the back of Mrs. Evans’s room saying that the Brownings slept here during Snowmageddon 2014.”
Morgan White
Tyler Clark, sophomore, explains the situation he shares with his brother Hunter, senior: “It’s different than all of the other kids to have my dad here. Sometimes it’s easier because you have someone here to help you out and talk to you.”
Coach Tom Clark agrees, “It’s unique because not every kid has their parent here at school, but it’s good. I get to at least say hey to them two or three times during the day and if something happens I can take care of it then instead of later. Bottom line, I think they enjoy it, and I enjoy it.”
Morgan White
Sophomore Rachel Cox has shared North Cobb with her mom and Career Pathway teacher Sheryl Cox since she was a child: “I remember some of her students trying to bribe me when I was a toddler. I remember when half of these classrooms had carpet, and when the Freshman Academy was just a parking lot. I’ve been coming to North Cobb since I was little, and I would go to the all of the summer camps.”
Mrs. Cox mentioned her way of treating her daughter during school hours: “I try to give her her space, but it’s great seeing her. She’ll come by during the day and say hello, which is nice. I try not to meddle though because her teachers are my peers.”
Morgan White
Goodwin: Mrs. Goodwin believes having her daughter at North Cobb strengthens their relationship: “I love having her here because then I get to see her all throughout the day. I think it has made us closer because we spend so much time together. Everyday she comes in and has lunch with me and that’s really nice. She was actually in my honors Biology class last year, so she would ask me a question and go ‘Mom!’ That was funny for both of us.”
Her daughter Dakota, sophomore, agrees, “It’s different having my mom work at the school. Like if I wanted to skip class I wouldn’t be able to get away with it, but it’s nice having her here if I’m having a bad day, or if my friends who know her need something. It’s not totally horrible.”
Morgan White
Mia Grizzle is passionate about her mom’s job as US History teacher at North Cobb: “It’s perfect. I love it because I freak out a lot, and whenever I’m having one of those days I know I can just go and find her and we can just talk it out. I don’t have to wait until I get home.”
Mrs. Grizzle laughed and agreed, “She just comes in here whenever she wants to and makes herself right at home. I think it’s pretty cool: I’m enjoying the fact that I’ve got a teenage daughter that still likes me. Apparently that’s a pretty rare occurrence.”
Both Special Education teacher Mrs. Hill and her daughter Shea, senior, say having each other at school benefits them both: “It’s really useful to have my mom here because if I need someone or if I need a hook-up with an administrator, I can talk to my mom and she can be a mediator. I can’t skip homeroom to do homework anymore, but it’s nice to have a lot of people I know in the building.”
Mrs. Hill responded in the same manner, “I really don’t see her during the day so it’s not like we interact a whole lot, but it’s nice to have somebody to ride back and forth to school with, and I get to be more involved in her life. If anything goes wrong then it comes back to me, but that hasn’t ever happened.”
Morgan White
Junior Jackson Horton and sophomore William Horton started their high school careers with their dad’s presence. “It’s better to have my dad work at the school than to have him not working here. There are definitely some upsides to it.” Jackson commented.
Mr. Horton, who serves as Athletic Director and assistant principal at North Cobb, seems to enjoy having his kids with him: “I think it’s fun to have them attend North Cobb. It gives us more time together, and I get to participate in what they’re doing. Fortunately, they have not provided me with any interesting episodes. No scandals yet.”
Morgan White
Literature teacher and yearbook adviser Jan Husband is excited about having her seniors Sydney and Shelby at North Cobb: “It’s awesome, because I get to check on them all the time. Teachers keep me in touch, so I get to know what’s going on, what they’re doing right, and what they’re doing wrong. I get to sign forms that they forgot to get signed, I’m their ATM; I transport them. Overall, it’s definitely a good deal.”
The two twins tried to think of cons to the situation. “She’s always there.” Sydney proposed. “We have to stay after school a lot because of her, and we come to school early. But it’s great overall,” Shelby added.
Morgan White
Senior and Homecoming Queen Regan Jackson adores her mom’s presence at North Cobb: “It’s pretty great having my mom here because I can come to her room whenever I need something, and I just love seeing her beautiful face all of the time. The only downside is that we get ‘I’m Sorry Mrs. Jackson,’ that song, sung to us a lot.”
Literature teacher Sue Jackson responded positively: “She gives me a good perspective on the students’ point of view because she has no problem not holding back on the commentary. The only con for me is working out the car sometimes, so if she stays late or I need to come in early, she has to find alternate transportation. But she’s a joy to have around, and watching her progress, especially through Cross Country, has been great.’”
Morgan White
Sophomore Viktor Gemeleb considers why he enjoys his dad’s job as a teacher, “It’s really useful because I get support here. I have someone I know and trust at school with me, and he can help me with anything. I really enjoy it.”
Physics teacher Michael Lee also likes having his son at North Cobb: “I like hearing good things from the other teachers because they always stop by and say your son is doing well, so that’s fortunate.”
Morgan White
Sophomore Giovanni Merendino has taken on the task of getting accustomed to his mother Julie Merendino’s job as faculty at North Cobb: “She just started this year and it’s nice because I get a free parking spot, and it’s easy to come here and have the advantage of knowing people.”
Mrs. Merendino felt the same, “I find it’s just really convenient if he needs something I can just say ‘Come to the front office’ and I’m here. You get to know the teachers a lot better and know more about what’s going on.”
For famous families at North Cobb,this one takes the cake: Principal Dr. Page, senior Casey Page, and sophomore Chris Page. Casey spoke on behalf of the kids, “There are definitely perks. We get to see each other all the time, and it’s fun to be involved.”
Dr. Page is, as expected, an avid supporter of the situation: “I love it because of their extracurriculars. If they were at another high school, I’d have to make decisions: do I go to North Cobb events, or do I go to theirs? It makes it really easy; I get to go to all of their events and stay at North Cobb all the time. I also know what great teachers and a great education they are both going to get while attending North Cobb High School.”
Morgan White
Arguably North Cobb’s most famous father and son pair is that of Shane and Tyler Queen. Shane Queen coaches football at North Cobb with his son and starting quarterback senior Tyler Queen. Queen commented on his relationship with his son, “It’s been a great experience, seeing him grow up and play ball through our feeder program. He’s started in 47 games since his Freshman year, and in his Sophomore year we won our first playoff game with him as quarterback. That was one of the most amazing things that we got to share. To see him go out and play like he did made everything worth it. It’s pretty bittersweet though, because it’s about to come to an end. There have been tough times, but at the end of the day he knows that I have his best interests in my heart, so I think that has strengthened our relationship. We’ve developed, not only as father and son, but as friends.”
Tyler Queen finished off the discussion, “It’s cool because you get to build up that relationship and I get to spend a lot of time with him. I have two classes with him so we’re practically always together.”
Morgan White
Senior Sarah Reagan, known for being able to look at the positive side of anything, definitely views her dad’s job in a positive light: “I think it’s really nice for whenever I need money or if I forget to get a paper signed then he’s there. His room makes a nice locker for my Cross Country bag when we have morning practice, and then I often take his food for breakfast.”
John Reagan, a former police officer and the Law & Justice teacher at North Cobb, returns the sentiment: “I really enjoy having Sarah close, she’s an awesome kid and I love her being at North Cobb. It’s nice if I forget something too, because then she can always bring it in, so that goes both ways.”
Morgan White
Junior Christian Speeney likes having his dad, John Speeney, to fall back on: “A lot of times I forget he’s here but it’s nice to have him around in case I were to need anything.”
Mr. Speeney reflected on the joys of having his son at North Cobb: “It gives us some time together. We don’t see each other much during the day but we do have the ride to school and after school which is nice. Other than that, he does his business and I do mine. My favorite time has been coaching Cross Country with him on the team, and being able to share that with him.”
Morgan White
Coach Kevin Squiers, father of sophomores Bradley and Brett, thinks, “There are good points and bad points to having them here. They use me a lot for rides and money, but other than that they don’t really like to be around me.”
Bradley is not the biggest fan: “I don’t like him being a teacher here. It’s not the best because if I get in trouble they come straight to him.”
Morgan White
Sophomore Dylan Stanhope finds that having his dad Jay Stanhope work at North Cobb isn’t the best arrangement: “He’s always getting on to me, and I can’t get away with anything.”
Mr. Stanhope disagrees, “It’s nice for me because I can keep track of what he’s doing a bit better than a normal parent, since I know his teachers. He may not like it, but I think it’s good for him.”
