Sarah Ratzlaff<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I was in grade eight, I came to that hard decision all young middle-schoolers have to make. I had to leave behind that comfortable cocoon of middle school and choose a \u2018DUH DUH DUHHHHH\u2019 high school. My mom, who many of you may know as Mrs. Ratzlaff, had been working as the vocal teacher at N.T. for two years and felt that it was an incredible school. She told me N.T. had great school spirit and everyone was really energetic. What could be better?! So I decided to go to N.T. AND took vocal as a course without even taking into consideration that the repercussions would be having my mom as a teacher. After a few weeks, the peers in my vocal class realized why Mrs. Ratzlaff and I had such similar head shapes. Everyone was very calm about it. I have never gotten any grief from anyone about my mom being a teacher at N.T. Of course, I get the questions: \u201cDoes she mark you?!\u201d \u201cDo you actually<\/em> do your practice logs?\u201d \u201cDoes she help you with your vocals homework?!\u201d \u201cIs it ever awkward during class if she tells you to stop talking?\u201d \u201cDo you call her MOM?!\u201d<\/p>\n Well, the good thing is my mom is a pretty kool kat and never draws a lot of attention to the fact that we are mother and daughter. My mom does mark me, but makes sure that it is nonbiased. I \u2018actually\u2019 do my practice logs just like everyone else \u2018actually\u2019 does their practice logs. I have never asked my mom for any help at home with vocals homework because that would clearly be an unfair advantage. I am a chatterbox in my vocal class, and my mom will rightfully call me out to stop talking, but it\u2019s never awkward. I\u2019m very lucky because I have been with the same vocal class for three years. This has caused us all to become very close with each other and very comfortable with the idea of there being two Ratzlaffs in the class-room. I don\u2019t ever address my mom directly in vocal class. I may say, \u2018Uhm what was the homework again?\u2019 But I would never say \u201cBUT MOMSIE, I DON\u2019T WANT TO DO THE HOMEWORK!\u201d All in all, it\u2019s pretty cool having my mom at NT because I\u2019m able to grab lunch money if I have none of my own, which is often, and get a free trip to school every day. Overall it\u2019s pretty groovy.<\/p>\n However, I am not the only one who has a parent at the school. Miss Rough, Miss Monteith & Mr. Kino, Mr. Gorenkoff and Mr. Mendelovits, to name a few, all have kids who go to N.T. I asked Mr. Gorenkoff\u2019s son, Jake, why he decided to come to N.T., and if his dad being the principal was a contributing factor in his decision-making. \u201cI chose N.T. mainly because my dad said it was a great school with lots of spirit and everyone was really nice. I didn\u2019t really think at all about how my dad was the principal. It didn\u2019t come into play at all when I was considering NT as an option.\u201d I then asked him if he had ever felt uncomfortable in being the principal\u2019s son. \u201cIt is awkward sometimes when he disciplines a friend or someone I know. But everyone\u2019s pretty understanding.\u201d For my final question I asked Jake if he had any regrets coming to N.T. with respect to his dad being the principal. \u201cNope. Even though my dad meddles in my school life sometimes, I love N.T. and don\u2019t regret my decision in the slightest.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sarah Ratzlaff \u00a0 When I was in grade eight, I came to that hard decision all young middle-schoolers have to make. I had to leave behind that comfortable cocoon of middle school and choose a \u2018DUH DUH DUHHHHH\u2019 high school. … Continue reading