Ryan Hunter and Seth Beardsley
Staff Writers
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[email protected]
The Whitehead family celebrating the 4th of July.
Diversity, family, and joy abound at Cumberland Valley High School. Parents of many students at the school hold long-term teaching positions here. The Whiteheads are among those households. Mrs. Jennifer Whitehead and Mr. Michael Whitehead are both math teachers at Cumberland Valley. In fact, the couple met here at CV while teaching in adjacent rooms.
Now that their sophomore son Braden has joined their senior daughter Taylor at the high school, every school day is a true family affair.
“My parents working here made it easier for me to adjust to high school since I could go to them for assistance whenever I needed it during the day," Braden said, "And since they are teachers, they expect me to do well in school so my behavior and grades are better since I don’t want my phone taken away from me."
Braden also shares a downside of having his parents at the same school as him.
“The drawback of my parents attending my school, in my opinion, is that they can and will undoubtedly criticize me if I do poorly on any tests when I see them. I often feel embarrassed when my parents sometimes talk about me and my grades with other teachers,” Braden said.
Taylor has her own perspective.
“One downside would definitely be that most of the staff at Cumberland Valley already knows me and my family,” Taylor said.
But the senior is grateful her parents were alongside her through her years at CV.
“Always being in the school with my parents definitely made the transition to this big school much easier,” she said.
Mom says there are no downsides to being at the same school as her kids.
“I personally love being at the same school as my kids, being able to see not only them, but all of their friends makes it so much better,” Mrs. Whitehead said.
The Whiteheads remain a close family with strong CV ties. Mr. Whitehead graduated from here as well as their aunt, uncle, and their cousins Mia, Emma and Beck Way. Their cousin Dara Williamson is a freshman at CV9. Their grandmother and grandfather Whitehead are part of the fabric of CV history as well.