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T H E E VA N G E L I S T
November 17, 2011
YOUNG CATHOLICS
Top left, sponsor Andrea Wilary watches as the Bishop anoints Melissa Dixon with chrism oil. Above left, Andrew Antoinette speaks with the Bishop as his sponsor and brother, Nick, stands by him. Deacon Earle Flatt, who serves St. Madeleine Sophie parish and was the grandparent of
a confirmand, watches in the background. Four more confirmation ceremonies will be held in the Albany Diocese before the end of 2011, with hundreds of young people taking the step to become adults in the faith. (Nate Whitchurch photos)
CATHOLIC KIDS
MULTIPLE CHOICE: Waterford school is inundated with twins and quadruplets BY ANGELA CAVE STA F F W R I T E R
A lot of similar DNA is floating around the gene pool at St. Mary’s School in Waterford this year. In the school’s two kindergarten classes are three sets of twins and a cluster of quadruplets, who join two units of twin fourth-graders to form a total of 14 multiples. “That’s just like half of your class,” remarked Mary Kate Green, one of the kindergarten teachers. In her 26 years at the school, she’s taught several sets of twins, but never quadruplets — and she’s never seen this many multiples at once: kindergartners Briana, Spencer, Cooper and Keegan Giles; Alyssa and Tyler Ormsby; Logan and Keegan Linn; and Ryan and Ayden Lasher; and fourth-graders Julia and Emma Rabideau and Allison and Claire Basila. But the kindergarten teachers agree the familiar faces fit right in with the other students and rarely create confusion or challenges. It helps, of course, that all the twins are separated and each class has two of the quadruplets. That’s an interesting development, noted Mrs. Green: “In the past, you didn’t have the opportunity to split them. When
they’re separate, it’s just like another child in your class.” Other students at St. Mary’s seem unfazed until they spot a similar face in the hallway. “They’ll say, ‘Oh, there’s another of you,’” Mrs. Green said. One thing does confuse Sara, a kindergartner in Anne Pettit’s class: Two of her classmates, both multiples, are named Keegan. Ms. Pettit is more concerned about the fact that there are a lot more boys than girls in her class. But “they’re just kids,” the teacher said. “They don’t look at the fact that they’re a twin or a quad.” Most of the multiples are easily distinguishable from one another, too. The teachers do look twice to make sure they’ve
retrieved the correct blonde Lasher boy from recess, however: “One has a bit longer and thinner face,” Ms. Pettit explained. Ayden Lasher says he and his twin brother, Ryan, haven’t played any tricks yet, but people do get confused: “Mommy did,” he confided. “She didn’t know which one was which.” To ease the burden on parents with several children in the same grade, the teachers say they’ve matched the timing of their lessons.
Togetherness
Ms. Pettit’s pair of quadruplets, Spencer and Keegan Giles, sit at different tables, but sit together when the class settles down on the carpet and fre-
quently embrace. “They’re just used to being together,” the teacher said, adding: “I don’t think they’re as dependent on each other as I thought they would be.” Experiencing kindergarten with his brother is “fun,” Spencer said. In fact, he doesn’t miss his other siblings, Cooper and Briana: “I see them at lunchtime and I see them at recess. And also in the car.” The multiples point out that they each have different interests. Briana, for instance, prefers playing with toy ponies; Keegan, the Lightning McQueen character from the movie “Cars.” “Cooper loves astronauts,” Spencer said. “I love dinosaurs.” The quadruplets have similar faces, but different-colored eyes and hair, Cooper and Briana noted. “Keegan looks a little like me,” Cooper said. “But he isn’t the same as Spencer,” Briana chimed in. “We all have peach skin.”
We’re all special
Cooper doesn’t miss the others, but enjoys learning with his sister: “Being together is fun. If it’s only you, it’s not going to be fun. It’s sadness.” The quadruplets are quick to boast that they were born on All Saints’ Day. They feel special
ABOVE, BRIANA AND COOPER GILES, two of the quadruplets, learn about the weather in kindergarten. Left, Briana works with Logan Linn and Alyssa Ormsby, each of whom is a twin. (Angela Cave photos)
“because God made us,” Briana said. “We were born the same day, and also, my mommy and daddy loved us so much,” Cooper explained. Mrs. Green said Cooper and Briana look out for each other. Alyssa Orsmby, a twin and their classmate, agreed: “They’re always being nice to each other,” she said. “Briana was crying and Cooper hugged her.” Alyssa and her brother, Tyler, both play soccer and watch the same television shows, but differ in other ways. Tyler was first to remove the training wheels from his bicycle, while Alyssa claims, “I’m just smarter than him.” These days, Alyssa said she isn’t the biggest fan of being a twin: “I have to do all the work.” But she still misses Tyler “every day.”