Two-by-two, twins tackle school

By Bill Ackerman  Downers Grove's Lester School has 11 sets of twins, with four sets in fifth grade alone. Matthew and Genna Millhouse (from left), Brooke Hazen, Kiley Rubey, Carly Hazen, Ellie Rubey, and Arden and Camille Jachim are some of the second grade twins out on the playground for recess on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009.Links
Twin statistics: What are the chances

In most cases, twins come in twos. But at Lester School, they come in packs.

Principal Carin Novak said she received an e-mail from parent Robyn Bican, whose twin daughters, Audrey and Amber, attend the Downers Grove school. Bican was interested in how many sets of twins were at Lester School after noticing an unusually high number of sets.

"There were 11 sets," Novak said. "It is kind of a lot. That is a classroom full of kids. In second and fifth, we have the most sets."

There are four sets of twins in fifth grade and each twin is in a separate classroom from one another.

Fifth-graders Colleen and Brigid Miller are identical twins. Colleen claims they switched in first grade for a day to see if their teacher noticed.

"Sometimes you can switch," Colleen said. "It's like you are a clone."

Each set of twins asked said they find it valuable and fun to be a pair. Fifth-grader Brock Huskisson said he thinks if he was alone, it wouldn't be as "cool."

Fifth-grade teacher Lauren Francis said it is not difficult to have four sets of twins in one grade.

"They are inpiduals. Even though they are twins, they have their inpidual personalities and interests they like," Francis said. "They do different things."

Parents sometimes request their twins be separated so they can work on their inpiduality, Novak said.

Doreen Arlow, fifth-grade teacher, said she thought it was rare that parents would want to put their twins together once they got older. 

Arlow and Francis said it is fun to see if they have them down after getting to know them for a while, and see how each one of the twins has his or her own personalities.

"Sometimes it is the pitch or tone of their voice and their mannerisms," Arlow said.

The twins said they find themselves feeling luckier because they have a friend to constantly be around.

"It's like having a friend with you at home - someone you can always play with and get beat up by," Cole Huskisson said.

Arlow said she has enjoyed having the twins in her class because they are "grounded and some really great kids."

(Edit:Ruby)