Seeing Double

“Name tags would be very helpful.”

Maggie Moeller, Kindergarten teacher

Photo by Yana Lyandres

Teachers in Alexandria, South Dakota (population 615) are seeing double, and sometimes triple. That’s because the K-12 Hanson School where they teach, with a total enrollment of 300 students, has seven sets of twins and three sets of triplets. Five of the twin sets are identicals. Nobody knows why there are so many multiples in this small town. In the United States the average ratio of twins is 1 in 30 births; in Alexandria the number is closer to 1 in 10. Maggie Moeller, a kindergarten teacher, has two sets of twins in her class. She says she looks for identifying marks, like freckles, to tell them apart. But with fast-moving five-year-olds, that can be tough. Ms. Moeller does have a suggestion for keeping the twins straight, though: name tags.

Read more → Barbara Pinto, School sees double &triple: 7 sets of twins and 3 triplets, ABC News, February 10, 2012.