December 14, 2005
Higher education all in the family
Traverse City parents and their children take classes together at Northwestern Michigan College
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
College classes have bridged a generation gap and allowed one father-son duo to carve out regular time together every week.
Mark Avery and his son, Spencer, 16, a tenth-grade student at Traverse City Central High School, have taken a welding class at Northwestern Michigan College together for the past five semesters. Every week before class, they eat out before spending hours in the shop at the Career Tech Center learning the ins and outs of welding. Starting with oxy-acetylene they have progressed through the MIG and TIG welding classes.
The college had to massage the enrollment process to allow a junior high student to sign up, but Avery first got the required green light from welding teacher Chuck Hunt. Avery told Hunt and college officials that he would attend every class with his son and work closely with him on projects.
"As it worked out, the only issue would be somebody of that age and potential injury," he recalled. "I'm the one who burned my finger and [Spencer's] made fun of me ever since."
Taking his first college class at 13 during the spring of eight grade, Spencer got a huge boost in self-confidence that his teachers quickly noticed and praised. He boosted a 2.0 grade point average into this year's 3.6 or so grade point average.
"It helped him tremendously with his high school grades and his self-esteem," said Avery. "There isn't even a number you can put on that."
Avery said the benefits to their relationship are also immeasurable, especially with Spencer at an age where communicating can be difficult.
"Try and find something that a 51-year-old father can do with a 15-year old son: he loves video games and I hate video games, he wants to watch anime and I hate it," said Avery.
"But every Tuesday night, we go out to dinner together and talk about so many things, I really feel fortunate to have a relationship that I think very few parents have with their child," he added. "But you have to search for it, it just doesn't happen."
Having children and their parents in the same class would not even qualify as a trend, but a sprinkling of students besides the Averys share lecture, study and test times every semester.
Mary and Katie Griffin of Traverse City took an English class together last spring. Mary, an LPN at Munson studying for her RN degree, attends NMC part time while her daughter, a 2003 graduate of Traverse City West High School, is studying full time. They enjoyed being in the same class, though conflict flared a little when mother got better grades on her papers than daughter.
"It was fun, fun being in the same class," recalled Mary Griffin,. "Everyone knew, the teacher would say, 'Griffin 1 and Griffin 2.'¡"
"I think [Katie] thought it was pretty neat, she's always saying, 'I'm proud of you, don't quit mom,'¡" added Griffin.
Don and Jamie Gauthier are a father-daughter duo at NMC who have taken the same psychology and English classes over the past few years, getting similar grades. Next spring, the pair will take environmental science together, probably their last joint class as Don completes a liberal arts associate's degree and Jamie continues her elementary education studies.
Sharing classroom time with his daughter has been fun for Gauthier, who plans to transfer to Ferris or Grand Valley and pursue an education degree.
"We can study together, but we're talking a good 30 years difference so it has its moments," he said.
An electrician who has been out of college for two decades, Gauthier liked easing back into student life with his daughter. Jamie is a 2003 graduate of Traverse City West High School and the pair began taking classes together when she dual-enrolled at NMC.
"I kind of got the idea to help her a little bit and lead her a little bit, but when you get down to it, I think she led me a little bit," said Gauthier.