Chris Otto, Bill Otto are teaching colleagues at Washington Elementary

By CHANCE PRIGGE

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- It's only natural for some children to follow their parents' footsteps in life.

In the case of Chris Otto, those footsteps led him to the same job as his father, which led him to the same school his father works at, in the same grade level and even same floor.

This year, Chris is teaching a sixth-grade class at Washington Elementary School, just down the hall from where his dad Bill Otto teaches a sixth-grade class.

"It's nice to have him back in town," Bill said.

Bill said he told Chris there might be a job opening in New Ulm, which Chris later found on the Internet.

Bill teaches social studies, math and science. Chris teaches language arts and math. He also coaches eighth-grade volleyball.

"The first week of school was wonderful," Chris said. "It's been busy but fun."

There are seven homerooms in the sixth grade, but Chris and Bill work in different groups in the grade.

"I don't actually work with him as far as students go," Bill said. "It's not too much contact."

They do see each other in the mornings, at lunch and at meetings, though.

This is Chris' second year as a teacher. He came to New Ulm after one year of sixth-grade teaching at Chaska Middle School.

"I was kind of waiting for a chance to get to a smaller town," Chris said. "Chaska was a little too busy for me."

Living in Chaska was too expensive, Chris said, and the school's class sizes were too large.

"I average about 25, 26 students per class compared to 32, 34 last year," Chris said. "(It's) a little bit more one-on-one attention."

Bill has spent his teaching career at Washington. He started in 1976.

He said he was influenced to get into the education field by the number of relatives who worked in it.

"They kind of sparked my interest," Bill said.

So maybe it's appropriate that he let Chris choose his own career path as opposed to talking him into a job in education.

"I didn't really push him toward that," Bill said.

Chris said the family's tradition was possibly a factor but that he likes working with kids, too.

Chris graduated with a bachelor's in elementary education in 2000 from Bemidji State University.