Coincidences abound for Lewes Elementary educators

Decades after their own first day of school, Lewes Elementary’s Nicole Anderson and Erin Handley are teaching kindergarten side-by-side in the same building where they first met.

At the time, the school was known as Savannah Road Elementary, and it was where the two youngsters sang around the piano and corralled the class duckling from escaping the rug by using their legs as barriers.

Carole Palmer was their kindergarten teacher in the room at the end of the hall, right by the entrance to the playground; the hallway was later demolished when the building was renovated as Lewes Elementary. 

“I taught in that room when I taught for the Sussex Consortium,” Anderson said.

The two friends transitioned to Shields Elementary for a few years and shared Handley’s mother Susan Hall as a sixth-grade teacher before they split up for junior high – Handley went to Rehoboth and Anderson attended Milton.

Despite their separation, they remained close and were chosen to accompany their mutual friend Shelley Sentman to her older cousin’s 13th birthday party. Sentman’s relative was a young Jenny Nauman, now assistant superintendent at Cape.

“She was the cool older cousin we all looked up to,” Handley said. 

The pair reunited at Cape High and graduated in 1996. Both moved on to the University of Delaware, where they pursued different degrees – Anderson studied early childhood education and Handley chose fashion merchandising.

Anderson initially wanted to be a pediatrician but decided against it after an immersive youth camp experience. As a Cape student in the future teacher club, she spent time in Molly Zygmonski’s Shields Elementary class and fell in love with the kindergarteners. 

“I always wanted to do something with kids, and the work schedule aligned well with having a family,” she said.

As it happened, the two disparate majors were housed under the same college, so when the friends finished school in four-and-a-half years, they ended up sitting next to each other during their winter graduation ceremony.

“We didn’t even have close last names!” Anderson said. “Just another of those weird coincidences.”

Once again, their paths diverged for a time. Anderson taught at the Sussex Consortium right after graduation, and Handley tried her hand at retail before returning to school for her teaching degree.

Like Anderson, Handley said the career path appealed to her because of its family-friendly work schedule.

“And I always enjoyed kids so it made sense,” Handley said. 

When Cape went to full-day kindergarten in 2006, Anderson took a role at Milton Elementary and Handley had just gotten hired at H.O. Brittingham Elementary. They each worked there for nine years until two kindergarten positions opened at Shields Elementary – then overseen by their old friend, Principal Jenny Nauman.

The pair discovered they had similar teaching styles that benefited students due to their collaborative efforts. While Handley joked she’d like a door joining their rooms, their adjacent classrooms are self-contained, but students come together for special activities.

After nine years together, the two consistently bounce ideas off each other and share resources. Many days, they end up wearing the same unplanned outfit or coordinating colors.

Both have also been building teachers of the year; Handley received the honor for Shields in 2021. Anderson, a former Milton Elementary Teacher of the Year, was also named Lewes Elementary Teacher of the Year in 2024.

“Now I can’t function without Erin,” Anderson said. “When you find somebody who thinks the way you do and collaborate and share, it’s fun.”

“She taught both of my children,” Handley said, beaming at Anderson. 

Both plan to teach at Lewes Elementary until retirement.

“Please don’t go before me,” Handley said.

The pair was briefly separated during the 2022-23 school year, which Handley’s daughter Madison missed attending due to health issues. Anderson’s classroom window overlooks the student drop-off area, so every morning, she would stand and wave at Handley when she dropped her son Braxton off at school.

“We were tragically apart last year,” Anderson said. “It made me realize how much I depend on [her].”

In fact, Anderson said no words can describe her happiness in being able to once again greet her friend in person first thing every morning to get the day started. “I feel like she’s the other half of my brain,” she said.

“The two brain halves are together again!” Handley said.

With the last day of school in the rearview mirror, Handley said her summer plans consist of chauffeuring her kids around and going to the beach. 

“My kids don’t need me anymore,” Anderson joked. “So I’m tagging along.”