Love is in the classoom: Teachers tell all

Sophie Gurdus

Have you ever been seated right next to your crush? Been assigned to the same group project? Seen your teachers whispering in the halls? You’re not the only one. So, The Highlander has set out to find just how in tune teachers are to these classroom dynamics.

First up, we have Andrew Ramroth. He’s been teaching math for 16 years, a Carlmont fan favorite. He himself is the product of a success story, having sat next to his wife in their high school English classes. They’re approaching their 16th wedding anniversary, with two kids to boot. You’ll find him woodworking, running a soccer camp, and playing with his kids in his spare time. Every year, the couple takes turns planning the Big Date for Valentine’s, though the tradition has taken a backseat since babies one and two.

Molly McNinch is our second panelist. She’s been at Carlmont for six years, and teaching for nine total. When she’s not teaching derivatives, you can find her beside the pool gossiping with the water polo girls. Her favorite Valentine’s tradition is Galentine’s Day, Leslie Knope style. But come actual Valentine’s Day, she’s with her husband. The pair celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary in October.

Q: Do you have opinions on these, think it’s funny/cute/ amusing?

Ramroth : I think it’s cute. There was a time when I was dating in high school, and that was really fun.

Q: Does this affect seating charts? Group projects?

Ramroth : When I put my seating charts together, I think about pairs, and I think about whether there is energy there for conversations. I want to find pairs that are going to have a lot of energy or one person might be able to help the other person out.

McNinch: Recently, to see if compatibility shows up, I do one seating chart by astrological sign per year. It could be more; it could be less. So I started this two years ago, and that’s always fun because I kind of get to learn a little bit more about the personalities of the students. If two kids look like they might be a good match, then they enter the Three Phase Seating Chart Process. The first time they don’t start directly next to each other — that’s a rookie move — so you have to offset them and have a row between them. Because if the person’s interested, they’re gonna lean over the row and try to talk. Once that happens, I keep them offset, but now they’re next to each other in the row. So now the person can turn around and talk to the person. The third step is you sit them together in the back. That way, they can, if they do like each other, have side conversations.

Q: Any success stories?

Ramroth : I’ve had some kids who dated throughout much of high school. I will say, though, that I can’t think of any relationships that lasted beyond. Oftentimes when I’ll check in with students and say, “Hey, are you still with so and so?” I want to say almost 100% of the time, the answer’s no.

Q: Do you notice kids’ crushes? Pay attention to who’s dating?

Ramroth : You can kind of sense it. You can see the looks kids give each other and who asks to sit next to who when they’re studying, and you get a rough idea of what’s going on. And so I’m happy for kids when they get any sort of relationship in high school — good friends or romantic partners, whatever that is.

McNinch: It was my second year teaching when I was at Woodside, and the science teacher told me, “Hey, I think that they’d be a good match and homecoming is coming up. I really want him to ask her to go.” They had class together with her, and they also had class together with me. So we made a seating chart arrangement with them together in science class and geometry class. I don’t believe they ended up going to the dance together. But she was the one who basically started my journey.

McNinch: Two students met in my geometry class, both freshmen, and I remember I had them both as seniors during distance learning. It was so funny because I actually saw them here after distance learning. They were camp counselors at school, and I was at the pool for Junior Olympics. They’ve been to college together. They’re still dating. They’re still going strong, so that might be my first marriage. We’ll see. Fingers crossed.

Q: Do you gossip with other teachers?

McNinch: When I’m with the boys’ water polo coach, we talk all about the kids, and we’re just like, “Oh, well, we think this one likes this one.” Or “Oh, she told me that she was dating him. He’s dating her.” We get a lot of information from the kids.

Q: How did the high school romance fare for you?

Ramroth :We sat next to each other in a couple of our English classes early on in high school, but it was when we were both kind of panicking for a date to the homecoming dance. So we just ended up going with each other, and that was kind of the beginning of it all.