This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Old Bonhomme Elementary; One Feature is Husband-Wife Teaching combination

Kevin Andrews teaches third grade, Heather Andrews fifth grade at Old Bonhomme School in Olivette.

It is not every day you hear about a husband and wife teaching in the same school, let alone meeting there.  For Heather and Kevin Andrews starting out at Old Bonhomme Elementary in 2001 as young teachers would not only lead to the beginning of their careers but the beginning of their family.  They started as friends and before they knew it in December 2001 they were dating and then engaged in July of 2002.  It was interesting to see how the dynamic situation worked for two great teachers at the same school. 


Who started teaching at Old Bonhomme Elementary first?  How soon after did the other start working there?
Kevin: We were hired the same school year (2001-2002 ) I was hired in April, Heather was hired in August. 


Is it hard working in the same school as your spouse?

Find out what's happening in Ladue-Frontenacwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 Kevin:  No not at all, in fact we love it. We have made a deliberate effort to make sure that our personal lives don't interfere with our professional lives.  We make sure that we don't bring any disagreements to school.  We live in Olivette and hope our children can attend school here and be part of the Old Bonhomme community. 


Have you found any difficulties having your spouse work at the same location?

Kevin: Picking up our kids is quite the challenge and rely heavily on Heather's family to pick up our oldest from Kindergarten each day.  We also are not able to be as active in our children’s lives during the school day as we would like. The biggest work challenge is the issue of confidentiality as it requires a considerable amount.

Find out what's happening in Ladue-Frontenacwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

What are differences that you each have in regards to your teaching style?
Kevin:  I am probably a little more immature and silly than Heather.  I love to have my kids laughing throughout the day.  I think of myself as a motivational speaker first, teacher second.  I tell my students and parents that my number one goal is for each of my students to walk through the door each day saying or thinking "I'm excited to be here today!" 


How do you both get along at school?  How does it work out in terms of interacting with fellow staff-are you both separate during the day?  Eat lunch together, different times?

Kevin:  I believe they see us as two individual teachers at work, and a couple away from work.  In the eleven years we have been at Old Bonhomme, the only year we had lunch at the same time was our first year together.  Other than that we only see each other in passing. 


Do you leave the school talk at the door or do you discuss things at home?

Kevin:  This is probably the place that we have grown the most.  We used to talk about work a LOT before we had kids.  Once we had kids, obviously the conversation has changed.  Our basic rule of thumb is that we have the car ride from school to picking our kids up to talk about work.  After that time, it's family time.


How do students deal with this whole husband/wife team teaching situation?

Kevin:  I think they do pretty well with it.  We have had several families in which we have both had one child, and several in which I had them in 3rd grade and Heather had them in 5th grade and personally have not heard any complaints. 


What would be the one thing you would want your students to come out of the end of the year remembering about you?

Kevin:  Hopefully that they really enjoyed learning because I made them comfortable in our classroom.  I enjoy hearing my students say:  “Mommy, I mean Mr. Andrews.”  If I hear that I know I accomplished my goal.

Next, an interview with Heather Andrews, fifth grade teacher at old Bonhomme School.



We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Ladue-Frontenac