While tattoos used to be exciting news, they have evolved into a cliché among teens. However, while you may pay attention to your friends’ new tattoos, did you ever stop to think about if any of our teachers have any?

Surprisingly enough, I was able to find five teachers with tattoos, the majority of them having more than one.

Freshman seminar and business teacher Angela Salisbury, revealed that she has two tattoos. She received her first tattoo, a butterfly on her ankle, after her freshman year in college. The butterfly is sentimental between her and her father, who has one also. Her second tattoo consists of her two children’s birthdates in Roman numerals. Mrs. Salisbury said that she would be open to more tattoos in the future.

“I don’t look at it as numbers. I have pieces,” phys. ed. and health teacher Chris Demond says when asked how many tattoos he has.

“I basically have five pieces that have taken hours and years to do.” He explained that he waited until he was 22 years old before getting his first one because he didn’t want it to be one that he might regret. His tattoos are representative of different artwork that he likes and different artists. Mr. Demond feels that tattoos are gaining popularity as time goes on.

“Most artists, athletes, and ordinary people ranging from people in business and finance to regular Joes going to work every day with blue collar jobs have a tattoo now or are likely going to get one before they are thirty.”

U.S. History teacher Patrick Bresnan agrees that tattoos are becoming more of a common phenomenon.

“I think a lot of people my age have them and that they are getting more popular as the years go on as compared to my parents’ generation where it was very rare.” Mr. Bresnan was unable to count all of his tattoos, but came to the conclusion that he has nearly ten pieces altogether. Receiving his first tattoo at age 20, he explained that his right arm consists of all of his father’s artwork and that his left arm has many tattoos that are representative of his mother.

Mr. Bresnan is not the only teacher whose tattoo’s origin is rooted in family.  Alyssa Calabrese, also a phys. ed. and health teacher, shares two tattoos in common with her sister and mother. The first of these consists of three stars, one for the each of them in their favorite colors. She explained that “stars are everlasting and never die.” Ms. Calabrese and her sister and mother also all have a breast cancer ribbon to honor her mother. She also has a cross in honor of her grandfather, and shares a matching anchor tattoo with all of her best friends, with the symbolic meaning that “anchors keep you grounded.”

Her final two tattoos both have personal meaning. The first is a “26.2” on her foot to represent a marathon she was involved in, and the second being a reminder to stay strong during tough times.

Ms. Calabrese explained that she waited until she was 21 to get her first tattoo because she did not want to “just get one to get one” and she feels that tattoos should have meaning behind them.

English teacher Stacey Smith’s tattoo, also family-related, is even more straightforward.  Dr. Smith’s shamrock tattoo openly displays her daughter’s name: Delaney.