Mike Maesch and Amy Maesch truly are one of Michigan City Area Schools’ (MCAS) most committed power couples. Mike Maesch is the MCAS district math specialist and Amy Maesch is the secretary at Marsh Elementary School. For almost two decades, they have worked diligently alongside one another to ensure that MCAS and the students it serves can perform at their very best.
“One thing about being an educator that I find humbling is that you don't always understand the challenges these kids experience,” said Mike Maesch. “They don’t understand the challenges you've experienced either, so you have to meet them where they are. Every kid deserves the opportunity to learn, to be loved, and to be cared about. You cannot take that for granted.”
Amy Maesch has also been deeply affected by her interactions with the students she has worked with over the years.
“It’s inspirational seeing the kids who don't have it easy,” Amy Maesch said. “Life is not easy for them all the time, but a lot of them work through their struggles. It's nice to see them come back and tell their stories.”
In 1989, Amy Maesch graduated from Rogers High School, which would later merge with Elston High School to form Michigan City High School. She began working as a secretary at Long Beach Elementary School in Michigan City in 1996 but transferred to Knapp Elementary School when Long Beach closed the next year.
After working for two years at Knapp, Amy Maesch transferred once again to Marsh Elementary School where she has been working ever since. She now has over 26 years of experience as a secretary with Michigan City Area Schools. As the Marsh secretary, it is Amy Maesch’s job to help manage student enrollment and the school’s administrative paperwork. She also makes sure that the building’s operations run smoothly.
Mike Maesch graduated from New Prairie High School in New Carlisle, Indiana in 1993, earned his bachelor’s degree from Ball State University in 1998, and went on to earn his master’s degree from Grand Valley State University in 2001. After teaching in Phoenix for five years, he moved to Michigan City in 2007. Mike Maesch met Amy Maesch when he began teaching at Marsh and, after striking up a relationship, the pair married in the summer of 2009.
Mike Maesch taught at Marsh for two years then transferred to Knapp where he taught for another 10 years. He was then promoted to the MCAS district math specialist and has now been serving in the role for five years. As the MCAS math specialist, Mike Maesch oversees the establishment of a secure math education framework in the district. He is responsible for adopting new learning materials and visiting the district’s schools to supervise math instruction.
Although he no longer teaches in the classroom on a daily basis, Mike Maesch’s role as the MCAS math specialist gives him the opportunity to continue to interact with teachers and students in the district’s schools.
“It's not easy, but the best way to help students succeed is to be there every day and be the person in their life who consistently shows up for them,” Mike Maesch said. “It's a vital strategy for improving student performance. I always tell teachers that being there every day is the most important thing they can do for their students and fellow staff members.”
As someone who has been there for students at Marsh Elementary for almost three decades, Amy Maesch has become an integral member of the school staff.
“I feel like I am Marsh Elementary,” Amy Maesch joked. “I’ve learned everything about a lot of the families here by talking to the students’ parents on the phone. I know a lot of former Marsh students whose kids are going here now, so all of those parents already know me. If I’m not the one to answer the school’s phone, they say, ‘Oh, go get Ms. Amy.’ They're used to me and comfortable with me. We’re like a family.”
During his time as the MCAS math specialist, Mike Maesch has seen the capabilities of the students of Michigan City and this has further motivated him to help them realize their fullest potential.
“I believe that all of our kids can excel,” Mike Maesch said. “Whenever I have a conversation with a student, I begin with a positive message. I tell them, ‘You can do this, we just have to figure out how we're going to do it.’ Looking at our district’s test scores and student performance, I think our students can perform just as well as, if not better than, their peers at schools like New Prairie or Valparaiso. My goal is to make that happen.”
Amy Maesch’s main goal is to establish positive relationships with the parents of Marsh Elementary students, and she seeks to do this by setting a high standard of reliability.
“My goal is to be there for the families,” Amy Maesch said. “It's important they know they can trust me and that I'll be there when they call to help with whatever they need. For instance, if a parent calls to say, ‘Tell my kid they don’t have to ride the bus,’ they know that I will get the message to their student. Parents need that trust.”
Mike Maesch appreciates his wife’s role at Marsh and understands just how significant her role at the school truly is.
“She's a staple at Marsh,“ Mike Maesch said. “Two weekends ago, I helped her put together a bulletin board to recognize all the kids who made the honor roll or whose grades went up. She organizes school events like the book bingo event that’s coming up. She always ‘adopts’ a family from the school at Christmas and even gets her extended family to contribute. She has the biggest heart and it shows when parents ask for her whenever they call the school. Amy and the rest of the school secretaries are the unsung heroes of this district by a mile.”
Mike Maesch and Amy Maesch enjoy taking summer trips every year and, when they aren’t traveling or working, will tackle the occasional home improvement project together. They also enjoy adopting dogs and cats from the Humane Society.
Although they have vacationed all over the country, none of the places that they have visited appeal to Mike Maesch and Amy Maesch quite like Michigan City does.
“We live and breathe Michigan City,” Mike Maesch said. “All of our daughters graduated from Michigan City High School and still live in the community. We shop here, and we wear Michigan City Wolves gear. We support the local teams and go to a lot of sporting events. Being members of this community is very important to us.”