Kelly Sipes has been teaching for 20 years. Douglas Sipes has been teaching 29 years.
Sipeses
Kelly Sipes teaches chorus and introduction to piano. She has been teaching on and off for 20 years. She originally taught third grade. Douglas Sipes teaches broadcasting and has been teaching for 29 years.
They both wanted to become teachers; however, they had other options in mind too.
“At one time, I thought about becoming a school counselor,” K. Sipes said.
“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. However, I’ve always wanted my own business, maybe a gourmet pizza shop,” D. Sipes said.
The Sipeses met through mutual friends at the high school.
“We had so much fun together; it was like we had known each other for years,” K. Sipes said.
“It was love at first sight. We got along so well and had so much fun on our official first date,” D. Sipes said.
They both enjoy doing outdoor activities during their shared summer vacation.
“It gives us a chance to do some of our favorite things together. We love to spend time outdoors hiking. Having the freedom to go whenever we want during the summer is awesome,” K. Sipes said.
“We get to spend so much time doing things that we enjoy. We have two dogs we spend a lot of time with and we enjoy hiking and being outdoors. One big benefit is that we don’t have to worry about vacation time, although we often find ourselves doing school related work over the summer quite a bit,” D. Sipes said.
The Sipeses often see each other during lunch. However, they also occasionally see each other during other points of the day.
“We usually see each other at lunch, but not too much other than that. We sometimes ride to and from work together,” K. Sipes said.
“We usually only see each other during lunch, but sometimes our schedules allow us to see each other during prep periods or when my students are doing projects related to music classes. Lunchtime has always been fun for us, just as with the students,” D. Sipes said.
The Sipeses both teach performance based classes, which occasionally relate to each other.
“It’s nice to be at so many of the same events–he and his students often record my concerts, we both work football games, etc.” K. Sipes said.
“It’s nice to be together at school and athletic events where my students are taping and my wife’s students are performing,” D. Sipes said.
The Sipeses have shared some struggles over the years.
“We usually have the same busy times of the year. It’s a challenge when both of us are being pulled in so many different directions,” K. Sipes said.
“The biggest challenge is trying to leave work at school, and as with everyone, the last year has been super stressful for us due to the nature of what we teach,” D. Sipes said.
The Sipeses are very supportive of each other.
“We have a good sense of what is going on with each other, since we have similar jobs. It’s nice to have someone there that is always supportive,” K. Sipes said.
“It’s nice, because if one of us needs something it’s easy to contact one another and know that the other is there for you,” D. Sipes said.
Sohmers
Patricia Sohmer has been teaching for 35 years, and Joseph Sohmer has been teaching for 28 years.
Patricia Sohmer has been teaching chemistry for 35 years. Joseph Sohmer has been teaching chemistry for 28 years.
P. Sohmer has always wanted to be a teacher. J. Sohmer had other options.
“I have no idea what I would have done if I didn’t become a teacher because this is all I’ve ever wanted to do,” P. Sohmer said.
“If I wasn’t a teacher, I probably would’ve worked in industry as a chemist,” J. Sohmer said.
The Sohmers met during a chemistry demonstration.
“In 1993, I was working for Juniata College’s Science in Motion Project, which is an outreach to local high schools. We reached out to all of the local high schools in Central Pennsylvania, Altoona being one of them. I was the chem van guy, so I brought instruments and equipment into the high schools and one of the places that I did a demonstration was Altoona High School. Down in what was then room S306, which was then Ms. Patty Logan’s room, I did demonstrations in her room for her class. I then asked my boss, ‘Hey, do you have her phone number?’ Back then there weren’t any cell phones, and when I called her house I got her mom on the phone. When I called a couple days later and said to her, ‘Hey, this is Joe Sohmer. Wait, do you know who this is?’ and she just said, ‘Nope.’ I told her who I was and asked her to dinner. We ate at the Olive Garden because I knew where it was. I thought she was cute,” J. Sohmer said.
“I didn’t remember him, but he was a very nice person. I thought he was gutsy for asking me out after I didn’t remember who he was,” P. Sohmer said.
The Sohmers keep themselves busy during the summer they have off together.
“We have pursued a lot of hobbies in the summer like canning, gardening, he does welding and we do some rehab in some places. We also fix up our house. We hike, white-water raft, camp, fish, kayak, anything outdoors,” P. Sohmer said
“We do a lot of camping without family so we have a lot of fun vacations where we are both off and don’t have to schedule anything,” J. Sohmer said.
The Sohmers enjoy their time together during the day.
“It’s nice to have someone heat up your lunch for you. Driving together is nice. He jokes that we are together all the time, but we pretty much are. We easily see each other once or twice a day between classes or in other instances. Our rooms are just right down the hall from each other. Sometimes we just stand at the door and wave. When our first daughter was born, I would come in during lunchtime when I was on maternity leave, so we got to spend time with our daughter here. She is now almost 24,” P. Sohmer said.
“While teaching in the same school, it’s good for us to be able to discuss what is going on in the classroom or with the administration. We have a common interest in what is going on inside the building. We also teach the same subject, so we can feed ideas off of each other on how to better present the material we are teaching,” J. Sohmer said.
P. Sohmer remembers the time they shared a classroom together.
“One year, we had to share a room. That was not a good idea. We asked to never share a room again because I like everything very orderly, and he doesn’t share the same philosophy in that way,” P. Sohmer said.
J. Sohmer remembers the times they combined their classes.
“We combined our classes and did a liquid nitrogen show for them. She does a lot of the background work for that, and I do the presenting,” J. Sohmer said.