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A Maternal Musical

Mr. von Kampen, Theatre, Acting, and Public Speaking teacher has a lot on his plate. Not only does he teach all of those classes, he is also directing the spring musical, Out of the Woods, and has a baby on the way! The real mind-boggling question is: How does he find time for it all?

When Mr. von Kampen was asked, “Is it difficult to work with a baby on the way?” He responded, “Very. It takes a lot of focus when at work and often demands me to leave work at school instead of taking it home, which is hard for a teacher who still needs to design and grade assignments. I’ve found it helpful to put limits on myself, like not allowing myself to stay late to work on musical stuff past 7 p.m.” He also feels it is very important to be there for his wife as much as possible. Around his first production of the year, Alice in Wonderland, some of his students noticed von Kampen getting more stressed and agitated. He held off telling his students about the baby for quite awhile because he and his wife, “didn’t want to rush it being public knowledge.”

He first told his Alice in Wonderland cast a few days before the play opened, towards the end of October. He said that once he told them, “The mood in the show immediately lifted and an impromptu celebration broke out. It was really sweet of everybody to be so congratulatory for our big news.” Everyone is very happy for Mr. von Kampen and his growing family, but his cast and crew who had worked very closely with him were ecstatic! The cast and crew started laughing and yelling. Alice Long said she heard one person say, “Thank goodness! Your wife has been ‘sick’ for so long that we thought she had some sort of chronic illness.”

Since then, von Kampen has been determined to balance his work, and being there for his wife. “I resort to just forcing myself to put my head down and grade like a madman between school and rehearsal or my plan period or study hall if there’s nothing else demanding my presence or even popping in on a Saturday or Sunday when everything at home is settled.”

Keep calm Mercy girls! We have a future monarch coming!

Through it all, Mr. von Kampen couldn’t be happier with his newborn daughter on the way. She is due May 22nd, the Wednesday of finals week, “If she comes before then or on that date, I’ll probably have to take a few days while still making sure my finals are set up for another teacher to proctor. If she comes after, it’s not much of an issue since it’s right at the end of the year. The timing is so close to perfect.”

Grace Larson
I’m a lover of animals and a reader of books. :)
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