Marriage can be a beautiful and special bond between two people. The bond between those people is a magical and passionate experience. A great romance can spark between the partners, creating an everlasting love, making the partners feel more connected.Usually the more time they spend together, the deeper they fall in love and the closer they become. But how close is too close? Who would devote themselves to one person so completely; twenty-four hours, five days a week?
“Most couples don’t eat every single meal together, drive to and from work together, and work across the halls,” said Mrs. Wong.
However here a C.K. McClatchy we have three couples who have been putting themselves through this for years, you can sort of think of them as the power couples of McClatchy, and they are: Mrs. and Mr. Hankin, Mrs. Jablonski and Mr. Tagg, and Mrs. and Mr. Wong. So do they find it difficult working along side their spouse or does it actually strengthen their relationship?
Many teachers here each at McClatchy vary in their teaching styles- no two teachers are exactly alike in the way they teach. This may not be a problem among your average teachers, but for our married teachers this may stir up problems in their relationship. In the first few years of Mr. Tagg and Mrs. Jablonskis’ teaching careers, Mr. Tagg found this to be a problem. Apparently his AP students complained about his teaching to his wife, which created friction. But after eleven years of marriage and four years of working together they both stated that since their world views and teaching methods aren’t that radically different there’s really no conflict between the two, especially since they teach different subjects.
Mr. Wong stated about his wife, “We have very different teaching methods, but it doesn’t create any problems. She is very enthusiastic and free wheeling and I’m more lecture based, but both teaching styles are still effective.”
Mrs. Wong told a story similar to Mr. Tagg’s, about how her and Mr. Wong switched HISP sophomores halfway through the year for about ten years. And she said her students complained to her because they’re were afraid of having Mr. Wong.
She had to tell her students, “Guys I’m married to him, stop saying that.”
She reassured them that they would be fine. Which they would, speaking from personal experience- having had Mr. Wong as a teacher he may seem intimidating but he’s really not that scary.
Both Mrs. and Mr. Wong said they have very different personalities, but after twenty-seven years of being married and twenty-six years of working together, that old saying must be right, opposites do attract.
As many people at McClatchy know, Mrs. Wong is the HISP director and teacher for the program and Mr. Wong is also a HISP teacher. So in a sense, she’s not only his colleague and wife, but also his boss, and if there were any complaints about Mr. Wong, Mrs. Wong would be the one to address those issues with him.
Mrs. Wong admits, “It is sometimes awkward giving him suggestions, but it doesn’t create problems, I have to treat him like the other eleven HISP teachers, and I do, so it’s not an issue.”
Mr. Wong responded by saying that he does listen to the suggestions, but it depends on the stitution if he actually makes a change.
Usually when adults come home from work they let go of what happened and unwind. But this isn’t the case when both you and your spouse are teachers at the same school.
Mr. Wong hates when work takes over his home life, he said “She’s always on her laptop, but I understand as a dedicated teacher, my wife’s dedication.”
They both said they enjoy working together for reasons like this. They understand what the other one is going through because they both teach at the same school, which they believe strengthens their relationship.
Mrs. Jablonski and Mr. Tagg both agreed that they do talk about work a lot at home, but they don’t really talk about the work aspect. They mostly talk about students. Imagine, your teachers coming home and talking about how you failed that test or that dumb comment you made in class. However they both stated that they like sharing students, not so they can complain about them, but so they can share funny stories of things that happen in class.
Sometimes it’s perfectly healthy to get some individual alone time. And our power couples love their alone time. Mr. Wong has his golf, Mr. Tagg has his band and Mrs. Jablonski and Mrs. Wong said they like travelling alone or with some friends.
“She encourages me to golf because I think she gets annoyed with me,” said Mr. Wong jokingly.
One thing that the power couples agreed on is that if they had the choice to continue working together or to work separately, they would all chose to continue working together. They agreed that working together makes them closer and strengthens their relationship.