Every morning is the same. The alarm goes off, and the couple begin their day. They get ready and eat breakfast together, but unlike most couples, they head in the same direction when it comes time to leave for work. For the husband and wife pairs that work at the high school, their paths don’t split ways until after they step foot into the building each morning.
In the high school, there are six couple duos of faculty members who work with their spouses. For some, the experience is merely coincidental, but for others, it was planned from the beginning.
“When we decided that we were going to live life together, we looked for a job [in] a place that would put us in the same school,” speech and debate coach and Rory McKenzie said. “We first started teaching together in Royse City. I was her assistant, and she was my assistant, so we really were doing everything together, and it was good. It really helped us create a good sense of family.”
On the outside looking in, some might assume that couples that work together are around each other for the entire day. However, this commonly is not the case.
“The only expectation I had [was that] I thought I would see my wife more than I do now,” counselor David Ramsey said. “We’re at opposite ends of the building, so it’s rare that I see her, or one of us has to make a special point to go and see the other. There are a lot of days that I don’t even see her at all.”
Like most situations in life, there are negatives and positives that go along with working alongside a spouse. For the couples at Lindale, there seem to be more upsides than downsides.
“The pros and cons probably kind of correlate together,” business teacher Jennifer King said. “The pros are [that] we know the same kids, so we get to share stories and encourage each other when we have challenging issues or cases. The cons are kind of the same way. We end up talking about school all day, so sometimes you don’t get away from it. I am pleasantly surprised that we have a good time, and it is nice to know he’s down there [in the main office] and if I need something, I can run down there and ask him, so we’ve actually really enjoyed being in the same place.”
While being separated during the work week, scheduling aligns perfectly for days off. Teaching for the same district allows these couples to coordinate holidays and vacations easier than if they worked for separate districts.
“We’re on the same schedule,” Ramsey said. “When I worked in other districts, the district calendars might not correspond. Spring breaks may be different or Thanksgiving. Sometimes the other districts might have the entire week and Lindale would only take three days off. So the schedule wasn’t always the same. It’s been nice to be on the same schedule.”
Being a working couple in the same district in Lindale has proven to be a positive experience with few, if any, drawbacks. All of the pairs seem content with their situation.
“It’s a good situation for our family,” English teacher Renee Ramsey said. “We’re both close to home and we’re all on the same schedule, so it’s good.”
