History teachers Fred Lehmann and Erin Lehmann are one of Wayland High School’s dearest couples. While some know of their heartwarming love story, few know of how the two became teachers at the same school.
At first, when the two got married, F. Lehmann was a businessman, not a teacher. But while running his business, he came across an advertisement looking for Advanced Placement United States History (APUSH) teachers, and thought it was perfect for his wife.
“Knowing that I needed to be [nearby] for my job, I started looking for teaching jobs for Erin,” F. Lehmann said. “ I noticed that there was an ad that Wayland High School wanted an APUSH teacher, and I knew that was one of the things she taught.”
After E. Lehmann got offered a job at WHS, F. Lehmann was still helping out with his parents’ business. This would change, however, during the stock market crash of 2008.
“Our business progressed until 2008,” F. Lehmann said. “And then with the financial crisis, I realized I couldn’t do that business anymore, and my parents kept me out for a few years. Then, after a little soul searching and talking to a lot of people, they were like ‘Well, why don’t you try teaching?’”
So, F. Lehmann considered the advice. Others encouraged him, with the fact that he always liked working with kids, being a coach and a tutor, F. Lehmann pursued a career in education.
“I visited a lot of different schools,” F. Lehmann said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, I really want to pursue a career in education.’ And so then I went through [a program], I wanted to get in the classroom as fast as I could, which got me licensed within a year for kindergarten through middle school.”
Soon enough, F. Lehmann became a system teacher for an elementary school in Acton. As things turn out, it would be through F. Lehmann’s friend Jim Paige, a former teacher at WHS, that would place the Lehmann’s at the same school.
“There were so many kids who wanted to take business courses that they were expanding,” F. Lehmann said. “ [Paige] needed somebody to co-teach a class and teach another couple sections. So I applied for that job and got hired. I started in 2012 and then Paige left the following year. That’s when I took over the business classes.”
The story of how the two found themselves working together can be surprising. While E. Lehmann can’t believe it, she says it’s awesome.
“First of all, I can’t even believe this is how things shook out,” E. Lehmann said. “When we started dating, he wasn’t in education. But, I feel like he was a closet teacher his entire life. Even when we were dating, he would come to all my school events, he’d come to my tennis games and he always wanted to know about what I was doing in school. He knew all my students’ names, and he was so invested.”
Their love story isn’t the only thing that’s she thinks is awesome. E. Lehmann says that working with F. Lehmann is the best.
“We have the exact same schedule, we know all the same people, we even share students,” E. Lehmann said. “It’s awesome to be able to talk about the people we know and [what] we care about. It brings us closer together in a lot of ways. We can totally understand what [we are] going through all the time.”
Like with all relationships, there are always things that can be learned. Mr and Mrs. Lehmann want people to know that it’s okay to take a risk to find something that brings you joy.
“[Mr. Lehmann] taking that risk of going back to school, I mean, that was a really hard thing to do,” Mrs. Lehmann said. “We had two little kids, and we’re struggling to pay our bills, because he was back in college after all this time, but it was so worth it. I [encourage] people, if you’re not happy with your work, to try and find work that’s going to make you happy, because it’s such a huge part of your life as an adult.”