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Seeing double 12 times at Round Lake elementary school

Posted May 20, 2010 11:00 pm

Bob Susnjara

Don't think teachers are doing something they shouldn't be doing at work if you hear they are frequently seeing double at a Lake County school.

It took until a couple of weeks ago for the picture to become clear, but it turns out there are 12 sets of twins enrolled at W.J. Murphy Elementary School in Round Lake, a building with 665 children in first through fifth grades.

Of the dozen sets of twins, seven are identical.

Guinness Book of Records has a listing for most twins in a class, which doesn't apply in Murphy Elementary's case. Guinness spokeswoman Sara Wilcox said Thursday that Raymond J. Grey Jr. High School in Acton, Mass., has the record of 10 sets of twins to graduate in the same class for the 2006-07 academic year.

Though Murphy Elementary won't be in the famous record book, Principal Jeff Prickett already has taken photographs of the kids that'll be part of school history. He also started passing along interesting facts about twins to the Murphy students.

"It's added a little fun in the year," Prickett said. "I was just talking to a group of teachers the other night. The year is so stressful."

Clearly, the children are enjoying the twin madness.

Fifth-grader Lizeth Rogel said there are many reasons she enjoys being a twin of sister Nereida. For starters, she said, it's nice to share a birthday with a sibling.

"Another reason is because that way you're not alone and you always have someone by your side that understands you," Lizeth said.

Nereida said she's found it interesting that not everyone thinks she and her sister are twins.

Some teachers have found it interesting trying to keep the twins straight.

One amusing incident occurred when a teacher told a boy to sit down because of his playground behavior, Prickett said. The instructor soon noticed a boy running around and told him to sit back down - only to learn he was the twin of the disciplined student.

Prickett said it was by chance he put two and two together and discovered that 12 sets of twins attend Murphy Elementary, which is part of Round Lake Area Unit District 116. He said his interest was piqued when he noticed twin girls holding hands as they departed school with their mother about two weeks ago.

Prickett said he's mentioned the Murphy Elementary twin situation to some suburban school administrators who are part of his doctorate program. He said he hasn't seen anything like it in his 15 years in education.

"They all thought it was pretty unusual and incredible," Prickett said.

Within District 116, six sets of twins is next highest building total to Murphy Elementary's dozen.

Evelyn Boring said the joy of being a twin isn't confined to childhood. The 72-year-old woman is former co-president of the International Twins Association.

Boring said part of the fun is dressing alike, which she still does occasionally with twin sister Ellen Collier.

"You have your best friend with you all the time," said Boring, a Dallas resident. "That makes it very nice. You usually have a lot in common, especially if you're identical."

Identical twins Jenifer, left, and Juliana Gonzalez, both 9 and from Round Lake Beach, show Principal Jeff Prickett some of their school work Thursday. The girls attend W.J. Murphy Elementary School, which has 12 sets of twins. Steve Lundy | Staff Photographer

That's a dozen, cousin

W.J. Murphy Elementary School in Round Lake has 12 sets of twins among the 665-student population. Six sets of twins are at the next closest school in the Round Lake Area Unit District 116 system.

Following are the twins:

• Justin/Emily Crundwell, first grade

• Daniela/Diana Mata-Lopez, first grade

• Karen/Karina Arriaga, first grade

• Julian/Jaden Monda, second grade

• Brian/Heric Hernandez, second grade

• Jose/Juan Sanchez, third grade

• Daniel/Dennis Johnson-Burns, third grade

• Amanda/Emily McKelvey, third grade

• Derek/Travis Kolb, third grade

• Jenifer/Juliana Gonzalez, fourth grade

• Gilberto/Melissa Lira, fourth grade

• Lizeth/Nereida Rogel, fifth grade

Source: Round Lake Area Unit District 116

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