By Clare Warmke
By Clare Warmke
A top-secret government clo
ning project in Marietta, Ohio, has
created two perfect humanoid clones. The female clones have been
genetically programmed with a superb talent for teaching art, in
an effort to make the United States the world leader in student
creativity output. The clones have infiltrated the Warren Local
School District.
While Sandra and Sylvia Young, both MA '85, identical twins and
avid science-fiction fans, would probably approve of such an
"X-Files"-esque plotline, the truth is, they are simply
gifted art teachers.
Teaching the same subject in school buildings separated by only a parking lot, the sisters dress exactly the same way each day - right down to the shoes - "for the kids," who love trying to confuse new students with tales of the identical teachers.
Their art programs have gained international recognition through the Pentel International Children's Art Exhibition, sponsored by Pentel of America Ltd., producer of precision artwork tools, and the Japanese Art Education Association.
Sandra's students at Barlow-Vincent Elementary School in Vincent, 15 miles west of the sisters' home in Marietta, have won the exhibition's highest honor - the Japanese Foreign Minister's Award - a world-record four times. Together, Sandra's students a nd Sylvia's Warren High School students have won more gold, silver and bronze awards from the Pentel competition than any other school system.
In December, Warren High School hosted the 26th International Children's Art Exhibition's U.S. Traveling Tour, also sponsored by Pentel International. The sisters helped organize a tour of the United States for the competition's top award winners from 80 countries. The Youngs displayed 250 pieces of the winning artwork and hosted a reception.
The Young twins attribute the success of their student artists to strong administrative support and a love of teaching. They received their teaching certificates from Ohio University 35 years ago after being hired by Warren Local Schools. They returned to the Athens campus in 1985 as rather nontraditional nontraditional students, earning their master's degrees in art education while continuing to teach in Vincent.
Despit e their hectic schedules while at OU the second time around, which sometimes ran from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. at least three days a week, Sandra says, "We enjoyed the classes and had great professors." She singles out the teaching skills of Associate Professor of Art Robert Borchard.
The Youngs received second master's degrees from Marietta College in 1987, tailored to focus on oil painting and art history, and they continue to take graduate painting classes there each summer to keep th eir skills fresh.
Painting is not the only passion they share. In their "sanctuary," a refurbished attic nicknamed the "Bridge" from "Star Trek's" Starship Enterprise, they keep collections extensive enough to make any sci-fi fan do a double take. Pewter figurines, dolls, books, videos and more, all from their favorite science-fiction shows, are displayed neatly.
Only one in 250 births results in identical twins, most of whom remain extraordinarily close into adulthood. While the sisters' uncanny "psychological thread," a noted phenomenon among identical twins, is seemingly right out of "Star Trek" or "X-files," Sandra and Sylvia retain individual identities.
"We try to give each other our own space," explains Sandra, though they can read each other's minds and often share the same dreams.
When asked the strangest question they have been asked about being twins, they respond in unison, "How do you know that she's not you and you're not her?"
"We're not one joined being," Sylvia says, then adds laughingly, "we're an alien that split into two parts through some transporter malfunction!"
Clare Warmke, BSJ '98, is a student writer in the Office of University News Services and a science-fiction fana tic.
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