Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Nov. 24--GRAPEVINE -- Three teachers have formed a sisterhood at Cross Timbers Middle School.
Maybe it's fate or just a family tradition.
Growing up, Nancy Cummings, Bryanna Currie and Beverly Swatzell had all sworn off teaching careers. Too often, they saw the stress that the job put on their mother, Liz Momper, when her elementary school students were unruly.
"On Thursdays or Fridays, when the students were exceptionally noisy, she'd say, 'I need 30 minutes to just sit here and not do anything,'" Cummings said.
The sisters' initial career plans included becoming flight attendants, forest rangers or marine biologists.
As time went on, though, they found that they couldn't stay away from teaching or too far away from one another.
"We've got too many teachers in our background," said Momper, who is retired after a 29-year teaching career in the DeSoto school district.
Cummings, Currie and Swatzell have taught at area schools. But over the past five years, they each landed teaching positions at Cross Timbers in the Grapevine-Colleyville district.
From 1997 to 1999, they also bought homes in the same Euless neighborhood within a half-mile of one another and their mother.
"This is just a blessing," Currie said.
Cross Timbers hired Cummings first, then Swatzell and, this fall, Currie.
"I had a feeling the same work ethic was there," Cross Timbers Principal Linda Tidmore said, explaining one of her reasons for hiring the sisters.
"I'm pleased with every one of them."
Cummings said she lured her sisters to Cross Timbers after explaining how supportive the district is in getting needed supplies for teachers and "just letting us teach."
Every Friday afternoon after school, the sisters meet at their mother's house to discuss the week and exchange teaching techniques and ideas that are as different as the reasons they enjoy their work.
"I teach ESL [English as a second language] and I love seeing the growth and changes in the students," Swatzell said. "They come so far in a year."
Currie's greatest reward is listening to and building a rapport with students.
Cummings says she enjoys seeing a student understand a concept after struggling with it.
"They say, 'I finally got it,'" she said.
The three say they are unique in the bond they share as teachers and sisters: They're just a short distance away from one another at work and home.
"It's nice to know they're there," Cummings said.
IN THE KNOW
Cross Timbers' sisters
Nancy Cummings
Age: 44
Occupation: English teacher at Cross Timbers
Total years of teaching experience: 19
Family: Husband Stuart, son Lee, 5
Education: Bachelor's degree in speech communications, University of Texas at Arlington
Bryanna Currie
Age: 39
Occupation: English teacher at Cross Timbers
Total years of teaching experience: 15
Family: Husband Bobby, children Bryan, 12, and Brenna, 6
Education: Bachelor's degree in kinesiology, University of Texas at Arlington; master's degree in education, Texas Woman's University
Beverly Swatzell
Age: 48
Occupation: English as a second language teacher at Cross Timbers
Total years of teaching experience: 24
Family: Husband David, children Kim, 22, and Kurt, 15
Education: Bachelor's degree in elementary education and physical education, University of South Carolina; master's degree in education from Frances Marion University
------
Terry Webster, 817-685-3819 twebster@star-telegram.com
-----
Copyright (c) 2006, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
