By Kyndale Mitchell

Staff Writer

 

This year has seen a lot of Woodlynde teachers becoming pregnant or having babies. Out of about 70 faculty, there are nine teachers who had or are expecting a child this school year.

 

                           MRS. PRICE

Health teacher Mrs. Price recently returned to work after having her second baby, Luke.

“So, working full time and being a full-time mother is always a huge balancing act,” she said. “But Woodlynde is very accommodating to either a mom or a dad if a baby gets sick or if a baby needs to go into extended care due to an issue that comes up during labor and delivery.”

Mrs. Price talked about the effort that goes into caring for a baby, saying, “You always want to give 110 percent to both sides of the equation. You want to be there for your family, regardless. And you want to be here at work 100 percent of the time. And it’s hard.”

But she also stated that everything will be fine, saying, “But once you kind of get into the groove of things and you know that they’re in a safe and supportive environment, whether it’s daycare or at home with a family member or a friend, it all starts to work out on its own. And you make the most out of every situation that you have at either location.”

While it’s great to be home with your baby, in one way, Mrs. Price was happy to return to work after her leave of absence. “The one thing [about returning to work] that I was looking forward to was just adult interactions. Getting back into a routine with people that I work with, and you guys as students.”

She noted that “in today’s day and age, being at home is just not possible anymore due to the economy and everything else.”

She also believes that daycare is important for her child, saying, “And also Luke getting on with his development of social skills and getting into a routine at daycare, and meeting new people. And building his immune system so he’s around other germs and viruses and everything else.

                       MRS. HOYNAK

Working at Woodlynde while having a baby is also challenging for Math teacher Mrs. Hoynak.

She told the Informer in March that her baby boy, named Anders, is “awesome. He’s a good baby. He’s fun now. He’s eight months old, so he likes to play.”

She has mixed emotions about being away from Anders during the day.

“Working here is fine,” she said. “I miss him during the day. But it’s kind of nice to be away from him [because] it’s good to be with older people I can actually talk to. And I’m happy he gets to be in a daycare with other babies to socialize with.”

   MRS. FRANKEL

Sixth Grade teacher Mrs. Frankel is one of the other teachers who recently had a baby. While she didn’t want to reveal the name of the baby until she had her, the community now knows the baby’s name is Kiara.

Mrs. Frankel told the Informer before she went on maternity leave that she would not be coming back to school until January.