A family affair: School, work bond together (part1)

While most McNick students leave their parents each morning to go their separate ways to school and work, a select few families have the opportunity of sharing their daily experiences at the same institution. McNicholas currently has eight families which have at least one parent working at the school with at least one student enrolled as well. This edition of “A family affair” will feature 3 of these families: the Dills, Hutchinsons, and Rosenbaums.

The Dills

Brothers senior Eric Dill and sophomore Mark Dill share part of their lives at school with their mother, French and English teacher Julie Dill. Not only are Eric and Mark in the same building as their mom every day, but they also have both had the chance of being in her French class. “It has been about what you would expect from a French class. It is a fun class, and having a French teacher environment at all times makes you excited for the French culture,” Mark said.

Despite his enthusiasm for French, Mark was often late for his mother’s first bell class his freshman year. “It was ironic because you would expect me to not be late for her class,” he said.

Both Julie and Mark agreed that being on the same schedule is helpful. “It makes it easier to discuss school and what is happening here because she sees it too,” Mark said.

Julie said that even when she was teaching at other schools, her children always knew they’d end up at some place together. “It’s really exciting that my students get to be a part of this great community that’s co-ed where we have high expectations academically [and] where students can get involved in so many things,” she said. “McNick is the best school I’ve ever taught at.”

dills — Mark and Eric Dill have both had their mother, Julie Dill, for French class. Mark said there were no worries about having his mom as a teacher, and that it has been a positive experience.

The Hutchinsons

Junior Soren Koch-Hutchinson and his father, theology teacher Jeff Hutchinson-Smyth, have been a part of the McNicholas community long before Soren was ever enrolled, so when Soren began his freshman year, he had a smooth transition. “I was afraid it might be somewhat awkward but it was actually quite the opposite,” Soren said. “When I came here freshman year I didn’t know anybody, but having my dad here meant that a lot of people knew who I was, so it ended up being very helpful.”

Over Soren’s current three years at McNicholas, he has not yet been in his dad’s class. Jeff said that while he would like to have Soren in class, he loves how Soren has had the opportunity to be taught by all of the other wonderful teachers in the theology hallway. Jeff has taught many of Soren’s friends, but does not put on a different persona in front of them as a teacher. “I don’t need the relationships to be separate because that’d be artificial,” he said.

The Rosenbaums

Director of Curriculum and math teacher Dan Rosenbaum currently has two of his own children, junior Nick Rosenbaum and freshman Grace Rosenbaum, at McNick with him. “It’s all positive for me, but I always worry about the possible negatives from their standpoint,” Rosenbaum said.

Nick expected many questions about the happenings around school because of the position his dad is in, but he does not worry because he’s been familiar with the school for a long time. He said he actually enjoys helping to set up for the Veteran’s Day assembly and various other events that his dad helps with at the school. “Being a young kid and growing up here at McNick was awesome. Having a parent working at McNick is overall a very positive experience,” Nick said.

“Something positive about having my dad work here is that he buys me cookies when I am all out of money,” Grace said, “but he can be embarrassing sometimes. One day when I was walking to lunch I overheard these kids talking about my dad and one of them said, ‘I saw Mr. Rosenbaum fixing that earlier today, he has a chill soul.’ I thought that it was pretty funny.”