The 2023-24 school year has been exciting for many reasons, but one of the reasons is the number of teacher babies. A total of seven faculty members are having children this year, including Mrs. Caitlin Terry, Mrs. Tamara Neiley, Dr. Kaylan Haizlip, Mr. Ben Ewing, Mrs. Amy Ruff, Mrs. Jordan Silverboard, and Mrs. Lena Andrews. “There must be something in the water,” English teacher Mrs. Neiley said. “This is the largest group of pregnancies I’ve ever seen in a year in all of my teaching career.”
One of the first to have a child was science chair Dr. Haizlip, who was out over the winter while her biology classes were taught by Dr. Kavita Kotte. She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Norah! Dr. Haizlip decided on the name Norah because of her inspiration from the singer Norah Jones. “When I was younger I really struggled with depression and Norah Jones is the reason I’m here today,” Dr. Haizlip said. Dr. Haizlip joked that all of the teachers are going to join a playgroup. “I am a girl mom, so I’m really excited to meet Mrs. Andrew’s daughter and Mr. Ewing’s if he ever tells us if it’s a boy or girl,” she said.
During the spring two college counselors have gone on maternity leave, Mrs. Ruff and Mrs. Andrews. In March Mrs. Ruff’s child was born, her second baby boy! His name is Theodore West Ruff, called Theo. Helping out in the College Counseling office while people are out is Ms. Beverly Coleman.
Also in March, Class of 2024 dean and history teacher Mrs. Terry started her maternity leave. She will retire from her position as dean but taking the position is Mrs. Neiley, who is also looking forward to a new member of the family in early July. Her baby boy is going to be named Everett Walker. “We really like the nickname Rhett and my husband’s initials are EW so we wanted to match that,” she said. “We also wanted something really different. As a teacher it’s pretty difficult to name your baby because you teach so many kids with different names and you don’t want to use any of theirs. But I’ve never taught an Everett before.”
Some of the teachers have been secretive about the gender of their new baby. Science teacher Mr. Ewing found out but has decided not to share with the rest of the school. And Mrs. Silverboard has decided to not learn the gender of her baby and will find out on the day of. Although the number of absences has been large, it’s all for an exciting reason!
