As a kid, I often imagined my teachers grading tests in the classroom, tediously searching for the perfect words of encouragement to write in brightly colored pen at the top of our spelling tests. “Good Job!” with the two O’s as googly eyes is scribbled above the 100 percent on one student’s quiz, while another student receives a “Good Effort!” on their quiz, in which half of the answers are slashed. Despite the score, both quizzes possess the googly eyed O trait. After stacking the freshly graded papers, securing them with a clip, and organizing their Pinterest-inspired rooms, I pictured them camping out under their desks until the next morning, awakening with effortlessly perfect hair and brand new outfits. As I mature, and start to recognize the chaos of my own life, I began to gain an appreciation for the busy lives our teachers lead inside and outside of school, and how they manage them. .

Gallery • 6 Photos

Mr. Winschel with the kids and teachers in catechism program from his church in 1995 or 1996

What time does your alarm go off each morning?

Mrs. Schott: Around 4:40. I wake up to an alarm. 

Mrs. Progar: 5:15 to an alarm. It has to be an alarm because if it’s music, the music will weave into my dreams and I won’t wake up. 

Mr. Winschel: About 4:35-4:40 to the sound of a really loud radio station that doesn’t really come in, so it’s just a really loud, hideous, static sound. You either get up or have a heart attack; one or the other.  

Describe what breakfast looks like on a school day for you?

Mrs. Schott: If it’s a morning that I go to the gym before school, then I eat afterwards, here at school. If I don’t go to the gym, then I eat at home. A typical breakfast would be hard boiled eggs or plain oatmeal. I am a very boring eater. 

Mrs. Progar: It is either standing over the sink eating a quick bowl of cereal while finishing getting the girls ready for school, or I’m eating in the car on the way to school. 

Mr. Winschel: I usually eat a bowl of cereal, on normal circumstances, unless I’m running late. 

Do you make any stops before or on your way to school?

Mrs. Schott: Sometimes the gym. On the days that I have to take my daughters to school, I have to stop at Kiddie Academy for the one, and Marshall Elementary for the other. 

Mrs. Progar: So, my two daughters go to the Goddard School, which is a day care up in Brook Tree plaza. So, I am usually the one driving and dropping them off there, and then coming to school. Occasionally, there will be a coffee stop on the way, but I usually like to make coffee at home just to expedite the process. 

Mr. Winschel: No, I do not. 

How long is your commute on an average day?

Mrs. Schott: With no drop-offs, 10-15 minutes. 

Mrs. Progar: If I am not dropping the girls off and I leave in time to beat all of the NASH traffic, I can be to school in about 9-10 minutes. If I am dropping the girls off and do get the NASH traffic, it is more like 15-20 minutes. 

Mr. Winschel: 25 minutes

What makes a ‘good day’ at school for you?

Mrs. Schott: When the students are excited and ready to learn, and when they come prepared. 

Mrs. Progar: A day where it’s not me being the one telling the kids exactly what I want them to learn, but rather them having those discovering moments where they are the ones discovering the math. 

Mr. Winschel: A good day is when I feel like the lessons have gone well, the kids are receptive, and there are lots of smiles. 

How do you decompress from a not so good day?

Mrs. Schott: The gym. 

Mrs. Progar: If there is time, it is trying to work out. If there is not time, definitely playing with the girls, coloring with them, playing “house” with them, reading to them, etc. Something that can take me away from the adult world for a moment and put me into their world. 

Mr. Winschel: I am lucky; I don’t have many bad days. 

How many hours are you outside of your house after school on a weekday?

Mrs. Schott: Probably around two hours per week night. 

Mrs. Progar: On average, I would say probably at most an hour just because of the little ones. If I have errands to run, I do that directly after school before I go get them because shopping is so much more complicated with four extra hands trying to grab everything in sight. 

Mr. Winschel: If I’m coaching track or cross country, I’ll usually get home pretty late, but in the winter I’m not out much. 

What are some passions you have outside of school?

Mrs. Schott: My family and everything that my girls are doing: all of their sports activities-dance, gymnastics, and my local church, Victory Community Church. My husband is a pilot for the airforce. I have two daughters who are 7 and 4 years old and their names are Sienna and Sadie. The girls love school. Sienna is in soccer, gymnastics, ballet, tap, and jazz. Sadie is in gymnastics and swim school. 

Mrs. Progar: Definitely my kids. I’m definitely a person that knew when I had kids, that they would become my number one priority. It is not that I have shut myself off to everything else in my life, but if they need something, they come first. Beyond my girls and my family, I have a very close circle of friends from high school (plus Mrs. Holland) that I get together with whenever I can. 

Mr. Winschel: I take my Catholic faith very seriously, and I’m very active in the church. I like to read immensely, mostly on history and religious topics. The running world is a passion of mine as a coach and a runner myself. And obviously my family. 

What similarities and differences do you see in the activities as well as level of intensity of the activities between yourself as a kid and your kids?

Mrs. Schott: I played soccer my entire life and we were usually on one soccer team and only had one game per week (when I was their age). Now, she’s only seven and she’s in two soccer leagues and does technical training with the RiverHounds. So, on weekends in the winter, we now have four things for things for soccer (practice, two games, and technical training). So, the intensity is quite different, but when I ask around all of the other parents, they seem to be doing the same thing, so I do feel like I’m pretty normal and just kind of doing the standard thing. 

Mrs. Progar: I didn’t go to daycare as a kid, so I definitely didn’t do as many things outside of the house, in terms of activities, as my kids do. Because they are so young, I haven’t gotten them into sports quite yet. My daughter, Nora, has asked to do ballet, or other things she’s seen on TV, or activities kids talk about at daycare, but personally, for me, they are just a little too young. 

Mr. Winschel: We kept score and that makes all the difference in the world. It was much more intense because there was a winner, a loser and the ultimate goal of winning the game. At the same time, we did more pick-up stuff as a kid. Mr. Weet and I, and our friends, were out everyday in the summer playing pick-up. So, the organized stuff today, I think, is less intense, the pick-up stuff rarely exists anymore, but the travel stuff today is more involved. 

How do your family’s schedules impact your own?

Mrs. Schott: First we figure in my husband’s work schedule because he is not always home. Then, we figure out what the kids need to do first everyday. Then I squeeze in the gym and dinner from there. 

Mrs. Progar: Greatly. 

Mr. Winschel: We have to make time for our kids’ various activities going on. I don’t go out with friends virtually ever, so that doesn’t get in the way. 

What is your dinner routine?

Mrs. Schott: Usually I have it all prepared, and then my husband cooks it. We sit down as a family every time we are all home and talk about our days; the ups and downs, and the kids complain about the healthy foods I want them to eat. 

Mrs. Progar: Sunday through Thursday, we are always cooking. My husband is a foodie, through and through. As long as he comes up with the menu, I will gladly cook it. Every Sunday, we sit down and he’ll plan out what he thinks will be good for the week and we go to the grocery store. He always cooks on the weekends, to give me a little break, and I’ll take care of it through the week. On Fridays we typically go out, unless it’s been a really long week, then we will order in. We’ll cook anything under the sun!

Mr. Winschel: The whole family sits down and eats dinner together and we say our prayers together before each meal. 

How much do you help your kids with their homework?

Mrs. Schott: My oldest daughter is in first grade, and her teacher doesn’t believe in homework, but she does have a spelling test every Friday and she has not missed a word yet, so we practice those words daily. 

Mrs. Progar: The girls are only in day care, so they don’t get homework yet. 

Mr. Winschel: Very little. If they ask for help, I’ll help. If they are struggling, I’ll offer to help. They do their work. 

With so many kids, how do you make sure you spend enough time with each kid?

Mr. Winschel: The thing about a big family, is that family is actually frequently all together. I don’t do a lot of things one-on-one. We tend to look for a lot of things to do with everyone like hiking etc. At the same time, in a big family, the kids are less dependent on attention from Mom and Dad, because they get attention from each other. They get the attention from the family as a unit. 

Do you ever accidentally call your kids by the name of another kid or forget their names?

Mr. Winschel: Ya, all the time. More often than not, I just make up names for them like Jim or Frank, even for the girls. This way, I don’t screw it up.