Teachers adjust to work life after giving birth

Kati LeFebvre, Photo Editor|January 25, 2016

Lately, many of Westside’s teachers have been having little babies. When they bring their children to work they’re surrounded by teachers and students oohing and awing at the newborns.

This list of teachers includes: Katie Harmon, Sydney Kobza, Katherine Lupo, Amanda Freitag and Lindsay Scott. Taking a closer look on how these teachers have adjusted back to work after maternity leave has been interesting. The teachers share their experiences being mothers of newborns.

Social Studies instructor Lupo gave birth to her first child, daughter Gracelyn Pearl Lupo only 14 weeks ago. The unique name was chosen in a unique way as a result of her husband being deployed.

“My husband and I had the same baby name book while he was away,” Lupo said. “I loved Gracelyn Pearl and sent him a letter to see [what he thought]. We ended up both loving the name.”

Lupo took 14 weeks of maternity leave because of complications along with the timing of Winter Break. Lupo’s arrival back included a warm welcome from students, they had left presents and cards to show their support for the new mother.

“Being the mother of a newborn is tiring, there’s always something to do,” Lupo said. “But I love being a mother, it feels right.”

Another teacher with their first newborn is Business Instructor Sydney Kobza. Daughter Amelia Joe Kobza is now 3 months old. The name was chosen because Amelia is Mr. Kobza’s grandmothers name, while Joe is Mrs. Kobza’s mother’s middle name.

“Being a new mother is amazing, I love it but I’ve never been so sleep deprived,” Kobza said. “It’s beautiful but I have a whole new level of fear for my daughter’s well-being.”

Kobza was on maternity leave after 6 weeks but felt welcomed back when she returned to Westside.

“Fortunately I work with a lot of my friends,” Kobza said. “I felt better being around them while getting back into the work routine.”

Spanish Instructor Amanda Freitag is the newest mother of all the teachers. Her daughter Eliana Jane Freitag is only 2 weeks old.

She has just begun her maternity leave and doesn’t know how long she will be gone. The district policy is around 12 weeks of leave.

“My plan is to see how everything goes then figure [leave] out,” Freitag said. “It’s crazy having a newborn.”

Business Instructor Katie Harmon recently had her second child, 4 month old, Emma Marie Harmon. Marie is Harmon’s middle name, while Emma is a name she had always loved.

Since this isn’t the Harmon families first rodeo, they have some knowledge of how to manage their children.

“My husband and I use man-to-man defense with our kids,” Harmon said. “My husband takes one [of the kids] and I’ll take the other. We change responsibility of the kids, it works really well.”

Harmon took 6 weeks of maternity leave.

“Coming back [to work] was bittersweet, it was sad to leave Emma and not be able to cuddle, sleep in, and wear sweatpants everyday,” Harmon said. “It’s great being with all of my friends again, though.”

Science Instructor Lindsay Scott recently gave birth to her third child, Taylor Paige Scott. Her new-born is now 3 months old.

Taylor was a name Scott had always wanted for a daughter while Paige is her best friends middle name.

“Having a new born is awesome because they change so much at first,” Scott said. “Seeing my boys interact with their baby sister is amazing.”

Now having three children has proved an impressive feat for the family.

“I took 8 weeks maternity leave,” Scott said. “I came back during finals week which was rough, but wasn’t terrible.”