Four sets of twins start kindergarten at John McIntire

ZANESVILLE – Out of the roughly 100 students who began kindergarten on Friday at John McIntire Elementary School, eight have twin siblings.

That’s four sets of twins, which is more than Principal Kacey Cottrill has seen in one grade, more than their teachers have seen and almost more than their parents have seen.

The twins are spread across three kindergarten classrooms with some together in the same room but most separate. Lori Hickman, kindergarten teacher at John McIntire, has the most.

Mason and Ashlynn Smith are in Hickman’s class, and so are Gianna Grandstaff and Alexzander Sealey, who are apart from their siblings. Titan Grandstaff, Cali Thomas, and Achillies Sealey are in Kendra Sampsel’s class, and Carter Thomas is in Amy McLain’s class.

Hickman once had one set of twins in her class as a preschool teacher.

“Four sets in one grade level is not something I’ve seen before,” she said.

The two siblings she has, Mason and Ashlynn, are the only set that don’t have older brothers and sisters, so school is an entirely new experience. What they have seen before, though, are other twins.

Mason and Ashlynn come from a family with 13 sets of twins, so multiple multiples are nothing they haven’t seen before. But they think it’s fun, and they knew before the first day there would be other twins in their class.

“They were really, really excited,” said their mother Lindsey Harris about starting school. “They were up before the sun.”

Ashlynn, the more independent of the pair, wanted to be in a different classroom than her brother, but Mason was nervous and wanted to be near his sister, Harris said. So this year, they’re in the same classroom, but next year they might not be.

“They’ve been together so much,” she said.

None of the rest of the twins are in classes with their siblings, and for some it might be better that they aren’t.

Carter Thomas and Cali Thomas went to preschool together and were in the same class for two years before kindergarten. This year is the first they will be learning apart.

On Friday, Carter was ready. Cali was not. She didn’t want to be away from her brother.

“My son got up this morning and said he has to go to school because President Obama said it’s important,” said Amanda Morgan, Cali and Carter’s mother. “Cali had a lot of anxiety.”

Cali and Carter both like sports, games and competing with each other about anything and everything, Morgan said.

“They compete over who can do the best cartwheels and who can blow the biggest bubbles, and I always say ‘it’s not a competition,’” she said.

But their classrooms are right next to each other and being apart will probably be good for them, Morgan said.

ksnyder2@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

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