Gwinnett Daily Post

Special Photo The class of 2012 at Brookwood High School has 12 sets of twins.

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Brookwood Senior Twins

Photos of some of the senior twins at Brookwood High School.

SNELLVILLE -- What are the chances of having 12 sets of twins in one graduating high school class?

Ginny Hanley, an advanced placement calculus teacher at Brookwood High School, is curious herself.

"Being a math teacher, I'd like to see what the probability of that is," Hanley said. "I'd have to first figure out how many naturally occur in the general population and then make calculations based on that."

Added Hanley: "It's got to be a rare thing. I mean, we're a big school, but statistically speaking it's got to be very rare."

Billed by administrators as the "12 Twins of 2012," the group of nine fraternal and three identical brothers and sisters gathered Thursday at Brookwood High School's library to talk about some of the quirks of sharing the hallways with a twin sibling.

Hanley, who teaches the Gouge twins, said it's interesting watching the brother and sister's behavior in class. "For instance, one of them is very laid back while taking tests, but the other will act very tense," Hanley said. "But they are also very much alike in other ways. They have a similar sense of humor."

Jessica and Nicolas Tailhardat, also brother-and-sister twins, said being in class together means "we can work on assignments together."

Added Nicolas: "Being twins also means we've usually got each other's back."

Ashley and Melissa Rivas-Triana, identical twins, might agree.

"We help each other in general," Ashley said.

Melissa said that they fit "the stereotypical twin idea."

"We're so alike. We're basically like the same person," Melissa said. "We're into the same things."

Ashley said that both girls want to be graphic designers.

Both girls said they were surprised to learn that there were so many sets of twins in the 2012 class.

But for the Killeen duo, "it was no shocker."

Sarah and Kaitlin, who are identical, said they are acquainted with most of the other twins in their class.

The Killeens said that their presence in the classroom is often a curveball for teachers.

"At the beginning of the year it always generates some sort of confusion," Sarah said. "Even in elementary school, (Kaitlin's) teacher would pull me aside in the hall thinking I was skipping class. She'd be like, 'What are you doing out here?'"

The presence of twins in class has been known to confuse coaches as well.

Softball Coach Kent Doehrman recalls, laughing, that it took several weeks before he could figure out which of the Erickson twins was which.

"In one game, I put them in the wrong spots in the batting order," Doehrman said. "I switched them in one key game, and it might have cost us."

Doehrman said it was nothing personal. "They just looked exactly alike."

Other members of Brookwood High School's 12 Twins of 2012: Hunter and Rachel Hellwig; Kristopher and Nikolas Bitton; Claire and Liza Barwick; Rebecca and James Norton; Brandon and Breece McConnell; Joshua and James White; and Kyler and Kaylan Collins.