Wheeling Park High School language arts teacher Jackie Shriner, left, and her daughter, Wheeling Middle School special education teacher Jenny Craig, share a moment together. (Photo Provided)

WHEELING — Mothers and daughters often impart knowledge and wisdom to each other — especially if they share a mutual love for teaching, and maybe even the same classroom.

Three mother-daughter teaching duos in Ohio County each explained how their family has influenced them.

Julie and Jessica Schultz

Three members of the Schultz family are teachers at Wheeling Park High School. Pictured from left are math teacher Jessica Schultz; her father, art teacher Russ Schultz; and her mother, innovation coach Julie Schultz. (Photo Provided)

Wheeling Park High School math teacher Jessica Schultz said her mother — WPHS ILC coordinator and innovation/graduation coach Julie Schultz — gave her some simple advice when she started teaching.

The elder Schultz told her daughter “to use Post-It notes” when doing her seating charts.

“It makes it easy to change them around,” Jessica said. “She has given me a lot of little pieces of advice that have made a big impact.”

And Jessica doesn’t have just one parent working with her as a teacher at WPHS. Her father, Russ Schultz, is an art teacher at the school.

When she was younger, Jessica had originally wanted to be a music teacher like her mother.

“I just wanted to be there for students,” she said. “My parents had both been teachers, and I had teachers always there for me. I wanted to be that teacher. Seeing they were all there for me, I never considered anything else.”

In the end, though, Jessica shied away from music education.

“I just decided I liked math better than music,” she said.

Julie Schultz said she wasn’t at all surprised when her daughter showed interest in becoming an educator.

“We are more closely aligned than people realize,” she continued.

Julie said it was when she was in middle school that she first decided she wanted to be a music teacher.

“We had so much fun in music class. I just thought being a music teacher would be the best job ever,” she said. “Just seeing the joy on their faces, that’s what made me want to be a teacher.”

Julie said she and Russ always told their kids to choose their own career paths, but she added their children did always observe them and their lives as teachers.

“When she was in elementary school, that is when I went back to school to become a teacher,” Julie said. “Seeing the paths we took helped her to become a teacher.”

She added she also was not surprised when Jessica opted to be a math teacher.

That is because Julie also has a penchant for math. When she was a student at the former West Liberty State College she worked at the tutoring center assisting students with their math studies.

She noted education mentors at the college also tried to talk her into having a dual major in both music and math based on her Praxis test scores.

“It’s really cool how we entwined that way,” she said of her and her daughter.

Deb and Emma Haley

Bethlehem Middle School kindergarten teacher Deb Haley, left, and her daughter, reading teacher Emma Haley, celebrate working at the same school. (Photo Provided)

Emma Haley is a reading interventionist at Bethlehem Elementary Schools, and often she and her mother Deb Haley – a kindergarten teacher there – get the opportunity to work together and co-teach students.

Emma explained it was only natural that she became a teacher.

“I was always around it,” she said. “I was always with Mom, being with her and going to events like Vacation Bible School and volunteering at school.”

Emma is happy she gets to work with her mother.

“It’s the best thing – a blessing in disguise,” she said. “I’ve liked watching her, seeing her in action … then becoming a teacher and growing with her.”

Deb said she has always loved teaching and working with children.

“Some of the really good teachers I had, really encouraged in the profession,” she said. “I wasn’t surprised Emma wanted to be a teacher. I knew she was a natural. I watched her teach in Sunday school.”

Deb noted they are able to talk and discuss ideas on a daily basis at the school, and collaborate on ideas. These are used when Emma comes into her kindergarten classroom co-teach.

Deb added she has been teaching 30 years, but she nevertheless learns much from her daughter.

She has a masters in education, and Emma is presently working toward her masters degree and sharing new ideas she takes in with her mother.

“We are learning new parts (ways of teaching) reading together,” Deb said. “Education is always evolving.”

The mother-daughter team has been known to sport matching jerseys with the names “Haley Sr.” and “Haley Jr.” on them.

One youngster asked Deb recently if “she knew Miss Haley?” She responded that yes, she did know the young teacher.

“Is that your kid?” the students asked her.

“They kids think it’s pretty cool that we’re mother and daughter,” she said. “One of my greatest experiences in education is getting to work alongside Emma.”

Emma termed her mother “my saving grace.”

“I go to her for everything,” she said.

Jackie Shriner and Jenny Craig

Wheeling Park High School teacher Jackie Shriner is set to retire this year after nearly 30 years in education.

Among those she has inspired – both in learning and community responsibility – is her daughter, Jenny Craig.

Craig is a special education teacher at Wheeling MIddle School who also serves as union president of the Ohio County Education Association, as well as secretary of the West Virginia Democratic Party.

She attributes both her love of teaching and her advocacy for marginalized persons to her mother.

“I would definitely say my mom has been an inspiration,” Craig said. “While raising us, she worked several jobs while she finished her teaching degree. She showed us what hard work and dedication was.

“She really has been one to inspire me, and all of my activism. Not just her passion for teaching, but putting yourself in others shoes and being an activist and standing up for what’s right. She told us to make positive changes and I’ve always tried to do that. That’s the example of how I’ve tried to live my life in my classroom and outside.”

Education runs in their family.

Shriner said her father, Minter Schrader, was a teacher, though he didn’t start that career until his 50s. He taught refrigeration.

But Shriner really wasn’t set on becoming a teacher. Her interest was in environmental education, and she took science-related courses in high school.

She has a degree in parks and recreation, and she thought she might someday teach biology. But a professor at the former West LIberty State College convinced her she should instead teach English.

Prior to becoming a teacher, Shriner worked for ARC Programming in Wheeling, serving and advocating for those in the area with disabilities. She also worked as a social worker at Crittenton services. Craig, as a child, would often accompany her there.

“After the kids were old enough, I went to work at Park, but I subbed for the first four years,” Shriner said. “I’ve been full time since 2000.”

She isn’t surprised that her daughter grew up to be a special education teacher, but she remembers that Craig originally wanted to be Lutheran minister.

“I told her you have to get your four-year degree first, and you can’t have a degree that doesn’t pay you,” Shriner said.

Shriner believes those days Craig worked alongside her at ARC camp inspired her to become a teacher.

“That’s where she started getting a love for special education, and I’m proud of her for her other responsibilities,” she said. “She works for marginalized persons, and she is such an advocate for social justice.”

Shriner has a younger daughter, Amy Krieger, who taught at Bridge Street Middle School for 11 years before moving to Florida and taking a job assisting people with building vacation funds. Her son Donald works in tech support for Apple.

Craig said what she learned from her mother is to always “be patient” in the classroom

“She also told me it’s OK to have fun,” Craig said. “She said it’s OK when things don’t always go to plan so long as you’re making a positive difference, and don’t take yourself too seriously.

“She is real with students and talks to them on their level. It shows she is human, and I try to be that way.”