Most Elder students leave their house in the morning to go to school, and once they are at Elder, they are away from both of their parents for the rest of the day. That is not the daily life for all students though. There are some students at Elder who have family members who work at Elder. For three particular students, it is their parent that works at Elder. Obviously, each Elder man has a different relationship with his parents, but is that relationship made better or worse because his parent works at the school?

The Bills

Nathan Bill’s dad, Brian Bill, is the Alumni Director at Elder. Even though they have a good relationship, Nathan says that he was slightly embarrassed when he first came to Elder because of how much Mr. Bill goes on the announcements for events such as the walk. He’s used to it now though. However, Nathan still gets embarrassed sometimes when Mr. Bill goes on ENN and says stuff such as “What’s up guys, it’s your boy Mr. Bill. Back at it again with the walk.” Overall, Nathan finds it convenient that he can occasionally use his dad’s parking spot because it is “a lot closer.” Nathan also enjoys “sharing the high school experience” with his dad.

The Schlomers

Michael Schlomer, a math teacher at Elder is the father of junior, Gus Schlomer. Gus admitted that, if his father were not a teacher at Elder, he might not have come to Elder. Gus also said that he “had [Mr. Schlomer] switch up his classes so [Gus] wouldn’t have him as a teacher.” Although Gus recalled that it embarrassed him when his dad saw him in the hallway on his first day at Elder and said, “Hey buddy,” he appreciates that his dad now respects his boundaries while at school. Gus jokingly said that his father is most useful when he needs a permission form signed that he forgot about or when he needs money because his dad is “an instant ATM.”

The Tuttles

Will Tuttle, an Elder senior, is the only student I interviewed who actually had his parent as a teacher. Before she worked at Elder, Will had his mom, Tara Tuttle, as a teacher in 7^th and 8^th grade. He believes that “she was a great teacher. She was even some people’s favorite.” Nevertheless, Will says that the embarrassment from his mom “doesn’t stop.” Will did not want to go into specifics, but he said that his favorite memory of his mother at Elder was when she told Spencer Bono to “put down a freshman because he was scared of Bono.”

Overall, it seems like these students do not mind that their parents are at Elder with them. In fact, most of the time, they see the advantages of having their parent work at the school. Whether they decided that they “wanted to go to Elder since [they] were two” like Nathan or chose Elder “because it’s a family tradition” like Will, they are all enjoying their Elder experiences with their parents.