A potent ketchup smell lingers around the Print Shop as technology teacher Alx Eller and her daughter, English teacher Nichelle Keithley, eat their typical breakfast of hot dogs. Outside the school building, Student Support Services teacher Laurie Carey and her daughter, biology teacher Rachel Carey head inside, ready to tackle the day. Eller and Keithley, along with Laurie Carey and Rachel Carey, are mothers and daughters who work together.

Eller has worked at North for seven years while this is her daughter Keithley’s first year teaching at North. Keithley received the opportunity to work with her mom because she was introduced to principal Daniel Cummings and assistant principal Jeff Dorman.

“[She opened] the door [for me] to meet Mr. Cummings and Mr. Dorman, and [I] interviewed with them,” Keithley said. “Now I’m here.”

Likewise, Rachel Carey was inspired by her mom to teach at the school, so she applied for an interview and was accepted. She was also intrigued by what the school had to offer.

“The MST program really drew me in,” Rachel Carey said. “I thought MST was a really good program.”

Laurie Carey and Eller were both ecstatic when they found out that their daughters were going to work with them.

“I was excited, because I know [the school] is a really good place to work,” Laurie Carey said. Both duos agree that the best thing about working together is that they get to spend more time with each other. Rachel Carey also enjoys other perks from working with her mom.

“If I need a ride, she can give me a ride,” Rachel Carey said.

Rachel Carey thinks that it is cool to work with her mom, because she grew up watching her be a teacher. Now that Rachel Carey is a teacher, she enjoys it.

“It’s just fun to see her do something that I enjoy and have done for a very long time,” Laurie Carey said.

Eller and Keithley enjoy working together as well. Eller feels happy, because she gets to see Keithley on a daily basis.

“Whenever I come here, it’s like, ‘I get to see my daughter today,’” Eller said.

Even though Eller and Keithley work together, they like to separate family from school.

“We have to be able to balance that personal and professional relationship,” Eller said. “It’s extremely important.”

Because they have the same last name people sometimes confuse Laurie Carey and Rachel Carey.

“I get her emails, and sometimes I her [student’s] parents call me,” Laurie Carey said.

Eller says that people are sometimes shocked when they find out that Eller and Keithley are related.

“They were just surprised that a mom and a daughter were working together,” Eller said. “Once they see our curly hair, it all comes together.”

Eller and Keithley say that they adore working together. They both like to help students become successful in life. Likewise, Laurie Carey and Rachel Carey like working together, because they both share the same mission to help students achieve their goals.

“We want to see kids succeed,” Laurie Carey said. “I think [the school] is a really good place for kids that want to succeed.”