By: Kylie Seitz

Working the Same Job as Your Spouse-The McElhaneys

There aren’t many people that can say they have been able to work with their significant other. A lot of people tend to meet their spouse in the workplace, but it is rare that an already married couple ends up with the same job. However, at Mary Persons High School, the McElhaneys are an exception to this.

The McElhaneys, both referred to as “Coach Mac”, are both gym teachers at Mary Persons. Mrs. Coach Mac (Llonisha McElhaney) works on the 9th-grade campus as the girl's Health and P.E. coach. However, Mr. Coach Mac (Lamon McElhaney) works on the main campus as a weightlifting coach. At one point in time, they both coached basketball however, neither of them have coached on the same team together. Mrs. Coach Mac currently coaches Cross Country and track while Mr. Coach Mac currently coaches basketball.

The Mac’s story starts in college where they met. From there, they both went into education, however, at first they were at different schools. Coach Mrs. Mac stated, “We didn't plan on working at the same school. At the beginning of our marriage, we were working in different school districts which were two hours apart from each other. We wanted to be in neighboring districts so we wouldn't have to travel and could live together like normal married couples.” As you could imagine, commuting was very hard for them because it did not allow them to spend as much time together. As Mrs. Mac explained, “A job opening for my position became open at the same school that my husband was already working. I applied and got accepted and that’s how they ended up working together.”

Since then, life for the McElhaney’s has changed for the better. Mrs.Mac says that her opinion of working together is “It is great because we will always have the same schedule with times that we work and holidays that we're off. Most of the time we can carpool to work together and save on gas. We also build great working relationships because we know all the same co-workers and students.” Outside of the good things they have encountered in the workplace, the McElhaneys have also encountered great things personally. They have had a boy together who is now four and are expecting a child in August of 2019. This couple is a testimony of what it is like to work with your spouse.

Kylie Seitz is a 9th grade student at Mary Persons High School