These Math Teachers are About to Have ‘Acute’ Children

Ruhi Samudra and Shaina Taebi|December 9, 2022

With a brand new and exciting journey for the math teacher, Alewine, Jennings, and Todd all express their appreciation for each other. “I would say it’s all fun, and we’re all close,” Alewine said. “We all can talk about different pregnancy things when we get together. It’s like ‘What are you craving? How are you surviving? Are you tired? Have you had this doctor appointment?”

Math teachers Sarah Alewine, Samantha Jennings and Kayla Todd are all having their babies next year. Both Jennings and Todd are going to be first-time parents while this will be Alewine’s second child.

Throughout this year, the three teachers formed a bond, supporting each other at work as teachers while also helping one another navigate the realms of parenthood.

“Ms. Alewine was actually out last year, so I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with her,” Todd said. “So definitely, it is nice getting to build that relationship with her a little more this school year. She’s the one I’ve been leaning on more relating to maternity leave and how I get that process started. But [Ms. Jennings] has been a good reference to go to for symptoms since she’s a little bit further along than I am.”

Although these three teachers sparked a connection recently, the math department’s community grew closer last school year when Alewine bonded with math teachers Crystal Le and Shelley Goddet and received support throughout her pregnancy journey.

“I went into labor, and that was on Zoom with Ms. Godett. I was like ‘Can you drive me to the hospital?’ So Ms. Godett drove me to the hospital and was with me for the first three hours of labor. She and I are obviously very close even though she wasn’t pregnant,” Alewine said.

Alewine and Le became first-time parents within months of each other, and this special connection went beyond just their pregnancies.

“Ms. Le and I were like three months apart, so it would be fun to text each other back and forth and be like ‘How is your kid sleeping,’ ‘SOS. What do I do?’ ‘How did you feed your kid when they started eating real human food?” Alewine said.

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I would just say it’s nice to have people who are going through the same life stages with you, and you also work together because you get to understand both elements of your life. You understand the work element of your life and then the life element of your life.

— Sarah Alewine

Now Alewine is expanding the community and using her experience raising a child to help support Jennings and Todd throughout their pregnancy journeys.

“I get to talk to Ms. Alewine a lot, and she has had a kid before, so she gives me a lot of good pointers, and she even made me a Google Doc of things I should buy for my baby so that I can be prepared,” Jennings said. “She shares her wisdom with me, and it’s fun to hear stories about her daughter because I’ll have one too soon.”

While being pregnant does not hinder their ability to teach yet – according to Alewine, Jennings and Todd – figuring out long-term substitutes and lesson plans are something they are working on together. Through their meetings at school and during breaks, they are also able to learn about each others’ stories of symptoms and experiences.

“I think the challenge for me will be balancing when I’m back at work, and I have a baby to take care of,” Jennings said. “I think it’s nice to have a lot of other moms in my department, and I could talk to them to find out what they do and things that help them.”

While Alewine, Jennings, and Todd’s individual experiences may differ, the three teachers still feel as though they can lean on each other, according to Todd.

“I would just say it’s nice to have people who are going through the same life stages with you, and you also work together because you get to understand both elements of your life,” Alewine said. “You understand the work element of your life and then the life element of your life.”