Page+3+September+2012+UW-Manty+in+the+News



Sisters, from left, Lacey, Cassy and Alex Duckart, all attend the University of Wisconsin-Manitowoc this year. It's rare for three siblings to be enrolled there at the same time, according to the university. Cassy and Alex, 19-year-old fraternal twins, are sophomores, and Lacey, 18, joined them on campus this year as a freshman. / Sue Pischke/HTR

**MANITOWOC** — The University of Wisconsin-Manitowoc has three siblings, including a set of twins, attending at the same time this year.

“While it’s not uncommon for our campus of around 600 students to have twins or two siblings attending at the same time, it is rather unusual for three members of the same [|family] to be here,” Chris Beloin, assistant campus dean for student services, said in a prepared statement.

Sisters Cassy and Alex Duckart, 19-year-old fraternal twins, are sophomores, while Lacey Duckart, 18, is a freshman.

People thought they were triplets when they were younger, an assumption that likely was helped by their [|mom] dressing all three of them alike. Even now, fellow students and professors confuse Alex and Cassy, they said.

“A lot of people here mix us up,” Cassy said.

For instance, students will start talking to her about a class she’s not taking.

“I’ll look at ’em like ... ‘I think you’re talking about my sister,’” Cassy said.

Last year the twins had two [|classes] together, English and math, and their English professor enjoyed seeing the differences in the stories they wrote, Alex said.

While no one mistakes Lacey for one of her sisters, “a lot of people knew who I was just because of them,” she said.

The sisters don’t have any classes together this year. Alex is concentrating on general [|education] courses, Cassy is taking a lot of science, and Lacey has multiple art classes.

They aren’t in any school activities, but all three have jobs. Cassy and Lacey work at Festival Foods while Alex works for a restaurant in Denmark but plans to apply at Festival.

At Denmark High School, all three were in band, the twins were in sports, and Lacey said she thinks she “took every single art class offered in high school.”

Cassy is pursuing a degree in occupational therapy, Alex is studying to be a social worker, and Lacey has not declared a major.

“We probably will transfer to the same college after we’re done here,” Cassy said about Alex and herself. They’re thinking about UW-Green Bay.

After that is when their paths will diverge. Cassy intends to work toward her master’s degree at UW-La Crosse while Alex doesn’t plan to go beyond a bachelor’s.

<span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The young women, who don’t have any other siblings, live with their parents, Greg and Sheri, in rural Maribel.

<span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">“We see each other more now,” Lacey said.

<span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">All three have a lunch break at the same time and often eat together, they said. When Lacey was still in high school and Alex and Cassy were at UW-Manitowoc, they didn’t see much of each other, even at home, because of their differing schedules.

<span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">They see some other benefits to attending the same school, too.

<span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">“They showed me where all my [|classrooms] were, which was nice,” Lacey said about her older sisters.

<span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">In addition, they can tell one another what various professors are like and help each other with homework, they said.

<span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">

<span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">