Father-daughter teachers stick close to home at Evergreen Elementary

Mark Elmore has spent nearly his entire life inside Evergreen Elementary on the northern edge of Spokane, first as a student, then as a teacher. The same is true for his daughter, Meghan Elmore, who started teaching with her father last year.

Currently a second-grade teacher, Mark Elmore has taught several grades in his 43 years of teaching. After attending Evergreen as a child, he graduated from Gonzaga Prep in 1975, then studied education at Gonzaga University. His intention was to teach physical education, but he did his student teaching at Farwell Elementary and loved it.

“I realized I really liked the classroom,” he said.

As the oldest of four children, teaching came naturally to him.

“I was always the babysitter and organized the games in the neighborhood for the kids,” he said. “I loved playing school when I was a kid.”

One of the reasons he enjoys teaching young children is the ability to be a role model for them.

“There were so many kids who came from divorced homes or didn’t have a father at home,” he said. “I thought of myself as a role model.”

When he started teaching at Evergreen, his youngest sister was in fourth grade.

“It just felt like home to me here,” he said. “There were even teachers here that were here when I was little. The secretary was the same.”

When his daughter and son began attending school, they often came in early with him and stayed late. When Meghan was older, in fifth and sixth grade, she would help her father grade papers.

“She was such a huge help for me,” he said. “She was like my little secretary.”

“That played a big part, I think, in my becoming a teacher,” she said.

It runs in the family, since her older brother is now a teacher in Bend, Oregon.

She also attended Gonzaga University, but she planned to teach high school math. But then she managed to arrange to do her student teaching at Evergreen.

“I loved kids and didn’t have any younger siblings,” she said.

At the time she graduated with her teaching degree, it was difficult to find jobs in the area.

“I knew I was going to try to get into Mead, but it was so competitive,” she said.

She was a substitute teacher for a year and a half, mostly in the Mead School District. She knew she wanted to teach elementary , but was applying for any job to get her foot in the door.

“A third-grade position opened up here and I jumped on that faster than anything,” she said. “That was the goal and the dream, was to work here with my dad. I didn’t want to get my hopes up.”

She applied, was interviewed and landed the job.

“He was my first call,” she said. “It was so exciting.”

She was hired weeks before the 2020-21 school year began. Mark Elmore took leave for most of the school year to care for his sick wife, but came back in April 2021 to a classroom right next to his daughter’s.

Meghan Elmore said it was a tough year . Her students weren’t allowed to intermingle with other classrooms , even at recess. Classroom volunteers were not allowed.

“That was just a very difficult first year for me,” she said.

“I told her, if you can handle this year, you can do anything,” he said. “For teachers, it was really above and beyond the call of duty.”

Their classrooms are no longer next door, but they love working together.

“He’s a great teacher,” she said. “His impact kind of runs throughout the community.”

“Now she helps me,” he said. “I go to her with all my tech questions.”

It’s unusual for teachers to work so long in one building, like Mark Elmore has. He has taught two generations of some families.

“My oldest kids are 50 years old,” he said. “I could have third-generation kids.”

Since he is second in seniority in the district, Elmore could teach at any school he wants but continues to pick Evergreen.

“It’s just a good, solid school, very homey, very welcoming,” he said.

He said he may retire after the next school year, but his daughter is skeptical.

“If I had a dollar for every time he said, ‘I’ve got one more year in me,’ ” she said.

“My friends have told me, you’ll just know when it’s time,” he said. “You always want to go out on a high note.”

Every August, Elmore begins to make plans for decorating his room.

“I still get excited about it,” he said. “I still feel like I have good energy with the kids.”

When that excitement is gone, it will be time to retire, he said.

“It’s always seemed so far away that I don’t really think about it,” he said.