Petersen, Summerville share what it’s like to be siblings, colleagues

The Shield: What is the best thing about working together?

Summerville: “Teaching can be isolating because you’re in the classroom, and you’re with students, but you’re never with coworkers and your experience is not one that you can necessarily share with others because it’s so unique, so having someone who gets what it’s like to spend all day in a classroom helps. Early on in our careers, for processing the day, it was nice to have someone who could relate.”

Petersen: “I would agree completely. It’s really nice to have someone who not only knows what it’s like to teach, which is rare to find among my peers, but also knows what it’s like to teach at this campus. We can understand each other with just a few words and that helps to, like she said, process your day.”

TS: Has teaching together strengthened your bond as siblings?

P: “I always thought our bond as siblings was pretty strong but I can’t imagine that if worked in different fields or even different schools that it would be quite the same.”

S: Yeah because I don’t share my day with other people. I don’t share it when i speak with my parents, I don’t share it with my friends, I only share it with someone who also teaches.

TS: If you weren’t teachers, what would you be?

P: “I can’t imagine a career I’d enjoy more than teaching. If I were to do something else, it wouldn’t be because I would enjoy it more.”

S: “I don’t think I could give anything specific but I’m fairly certain that i would still be in the public sector.”

TS: Do you make an effort to see each other during the day?

S: “Sometimes on the way out the door we’ll have a soda water as I walk past her portable on the way to my car.”

P: “Or maybe in the beginning of the day you’ll stop in.”

S: “So it’s maybe 20 minutes at the beginning of the day, 20 minutes at the end of the day.”

P: “Yeah about once or twice a week so not as much as we’d like. We’d love to be able to sit around and talk more but there’s always stuff to do.”

S: “Sometimes…we send each other humorous clips to watch at lunch if we know that the other one is having a rough day.”

TS: What is your favorite part about teaching?

P: “I like the interactions with kids when things finally click, especially in a subject like math where it can feel like you’re not understanding something and then you hear a kid go ‘Oh I get it!’ That moment’s really wonderful for any teacher.”

S: “I love the moments in the classroom when kids are asking questions or talking to each other and I can tell that it’s on topic and engaged. I like class time far above grading…or planning…or meetings!”

TS: Do you think that it’s easy to tell that you two are sisters?

S: “It’s bizarre! On one hand you have people that can’t tell us apart and on the other hand, there’s people who can’t see the resemblance, they can’t hear the resemblance.”

P: “The disparity is crazy. I have some people who ask if we’re twins and then other people can’t see it. I think that what I hear most in the classroom is that we sound alike.”

S: “We sound enough alike that I’ve gotten voice messages from her and I think ‘Why am I calling myself?’”

TS: Have you experienced any difficulties being coworkers?

P: “Only when someone recognizes you as the wrong person and starts a conversation! But other than that, I have nothing but positive things to say about it. I think it helps students remember that teachers are people too and that we have families and friends and lives outside of teaching. I think it helps us appear human.”