When a theology teacher position opened at Helias Catholic High School, longtime theology teacher Jacki Crider knew her daughter, Maggie, would be a great fit.
She suggested the position to Maggie, hoping she would apply.
"I knew Maggie would be such an asset to the kids," she said. "She's young, and she's got a passion for the faith and for the souls of the students in her care."
But Maggie was apprehensive at first. The last time she lived in Jefferson City was when she graduated from Helias in 2009, and she thought the position was too much to live up to - her mom has been teaching theology at Helias for 24 years, her aunt has taught there for about 10 years, and her other aunt taught there for five years.
"My mom is one of the greatest teachers that I've ever known," she said.
Jacki said she knew she couldn't push too hard for Maggie to apply, and she had to let things fall into place so Maggie could see it was going to be a great fit for her.
Maggie began teaching this school year.
"This job just seemed like it was what the Lord wanted for me next, and so I came home," she said.
Jacki said she always wanted to be a teacher because she looked up to many of her teachers, including her older sister, who was one of her English teachers in high school.
Almost all of the women in Jacki's family are teachers: her sister, her sister-in-law, both of her daughters and four of her nieces.
Jacki's mom graduated from a Catholic high school during the Great Depression when she was 16, and she received a full-ride scholarship to Marymount College, a small Catholic college in Salina, Kansas.
She went to college for one year to study education and fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher, but her family was struggling to make money from their family farm. She dropped out of college to work for the federal government in Fort Riley, Kansas, so she could help provide for her four younger sisters. She sent three of every four paychecks home to her parents.
Maggie wanted to be a teacher when she was younger, but she ended up going to college for theology and youth ministry. After college, she became a minister.
Now, she teaches at Helias for three hours a day and spends the rest of the day as a campus minister.
Maggie said she wanted to become a teacher because - even though she never met her grandmother - she was inspired by her, and she thinks this is why all these women in their family became teachers.
"It's almost like that pedigree that got into our family," Maggie said. "It's just to honor that memory that she really wished she could be an educator but didn't have the chance to do it."
Maggie said she sometimes thinks about how her grandmother indirectly impacted so many students' lives by inspiring all these women in her family to be teachers. She said she thinks of Mother's Day as a way, not only to honor her mother, but to honor her grandmother and the impact she started.
"It really is an honor," she said. "It's almost like a nod to education and the way that has followed in the maternity of our family."
Maggie said the best parts about working with her mother are the little things: immediately going to her mom's classroom when she walks in the building and getting the Diet Coke she gets for her, stopping by her classroom on her way out the door, sitting by her in faculty meetings and morning Mass, and being able to walk down the hall to ask her questions, knowing she can always trust her opinion.
"I knew that if I ever went to teaching, my mom would always be the person who I would go to for questions," Maggie said. "I just never imagined we would be in the same building, teaching the same subject, and that I'd be able to just walk down the hall. It's a huge blessing."
Maggie said her mom teaches her patience every day. When Maggie has moments she wants to be critical or harsh, her mom shows her how to be patient.
"She really inspires me to love first and to always give the kids the benefit of the doubt and to just exercise that patience, like even to a heroic degree, to the point where I'm like, 'Mom, how? How can I even do that?'"
Maggie and Jacki earned their bachelor's degrees from Benedictine College, a Catholic college in Atchison, Kansas, and Jacki earned her master's degree in educational leadership from the University of Notre Dame about eight years ago.
"She just has such an insight into education that I am constantly learning," Maggie said. "I'm learning more from her about that, and her advice is unparalleled."
Maggie said the best part of each day is hearing others talk about how wonderful Jacki is because she loves knowing others appreciate her mom, too.
"You get to see other people - students, peers - recognize good," she said. "I wouldn't get a chance to hear these people speak so well of her or hear these great things she does if we didn't work together."
Jacki said one of her favorite parts of working with her daughter is seeing the way she carries herself around her students and peers.
"For my husband and I, whenever we see our children sort of come into their own and be the young men and women that we know they were created to be, it's very fulfilling, so that has been beautiful to witness," Jacki said.
Jacki said working with Maggie has allowed her to see Maggie's strengths to a degree that wouldn't have been possible before.
"It is so gratifying and humbling to see your own children - to see Maggie - be so competent and creative and insightful about things that maybe I wouldn't even see the same way," Jacki said. "I can't even describe how satisfying that is as a parent to see your child flourishing like that."
Jacki said she also enjoys just getting to see Maggie every day.
"It's just a blessing to - either intentionally or just happenstance - come across each other during the course of your work day," Jacki said. "It's a real blessing."
Maggie said she didn't want her mom around all the time as a child. But as she became an adult, she realized Jacki is not just her mom - she's one of her closest friends.
"It's like going into work with anyone who you love and love being around," Maggie said. "I love getting to be with my mom and see her succeed."