Double trouble? Long Island high school has 15 sets of twins graduating
Apr 11, 2025
Graduation will be doubly sweet for 15 families from Plainview, Long Island this spring.
Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School has 447 seniors in its 2025 graduating class, including 15 sets of twins. (Believe it or not, two sets of twins are named Josh and Rebecca!)
“Most, if n
ot all, have been in the district since kindergarten,” says Timothy Lamb, the school’s assistant principal. “Many met as infants because the parents joined a ‘parents of twins’ group. They’re all very friendly with each other. They’re all close. It’s like they have a little clique.”
Luckily for the teachers, all 15 sets of twins are fraternal, and there are multiple sets of boy/girl twins, so there aren’t many cases of mistaken identity.
“Some teachers don’t even know they’re twins, even though some do look alike,” says Lamb.
Mom Meredith Brake joined a twin parents support group when daughters Emily and Amanda were born. Courtesy Emily and Amanda Brake
Meredith Brake is the mom of twins Emily, a basketball and flag football player attending the University of Georgia in the fall, and Amanda, who does volleyball and track and will head to Ohio State.
Brake is one of the parents who joined the “twins club” for advice, validation and empathy. They had a monthly meeting and a bi-annual garage sale to pass along baby items.
She tells TODAY.com, “It was a great place to know you weren’t alone in this journey.”
Liam and Emma Heaney suspect that it will be “weird” to be separated in the fall. Courtesy Liam and Emma Heaney
Twins Liam and Emma Heaney were never in the same elementary school classes, but they’ve been in some of the same classes in middle and high school.
Emma says, “We don’t really talk in class … ” and in classic twin fashion, Liam picks up the end of her sentence, “Because we talk so much out of class.”
The pair say that there are three sets of twins in their friend group alone.
Emma will be playing basketball at Lafayette in the fall while Liam is still weighing his options. Emma suspects that it might be “weird” for her parents to have their kids be in different places, “but I think it will be good for us to be on our own for the first time.”
TODAY.com got the scoop on the future plans for some of the other twins.
Kayla and Emma Leibowitz are attending different colleges but both are interested in sports and communication. Courtesy Kayla and Emma Leibowitz
Kayla and Emma Leibowitz both run track and plan to pursue studies in communications and photography — but at different schools. Kayla will attend University of Tennessee while Emma heads to Binghamton University.
Derek and Chase Herzog will attend different colleges, but they’ll be in the same state. Courtesy Derek and Chase Herzog
Derek and Chase Herzog help run different nonprofit organizations. They won’t be too far apart in the fall: Derek will attend Ohio State and study psychology while Chase will major in public health at Miami University of Ohio.
Twins Kayla and Sydney Jasser are pursuing the same college major … at separate colleges. Courtesy Kayla and Sydney Jasser
Kayla and Sydney Jasser have a lot of similarities: they perform with dance competition teams, co-lead the art honor society and hope for a future in fashion. They will be pursuing a fashion design major at separate colleges, however. Kayla will be at Indiana University while Sydney attends University of Delaware.
Chloe and Aldan Manzo decided to attend the same school … the University of Florida. Courtesy Chloe and AIden Manzo
Chloe and Aidan Manzo will both attend the University of Florida, majoring in accounting and business respectively.
They are the only set of twins who told TODAY.com they will attend the same school this fall.
Joshua and Rebecca Lipetz want to preserve the legacies and lessons of the Holocaust through retelling their grandfather’s story. Courtesy Joshua and Rebecca Lipetz
Twins Joshua and Rebecca Lipetz (not to be confused with Josh and Rebeccah Grossfeld) are very involved with 3GNY, an educational non-profit organization founded by grandchildren of Holocaust survivors.
Yes, you’re seeing double: there are two sets of “Josh and Becca” twins. This is Josh and Rebeccah Grossfeld. Courtesy Josh and Rebeccah Grossfeld
The Lipetz twins will attend separate colleges in the fall. Josh will major in industrial and labor relations at Cornell while Rebecca studies nursing at the University of Pittsburgh.
Sydney Monka calls being a twin “an amazing experience.” Courtesy Benjamin and Sydney Monka
When not tutoring students, Benjamin Monka plays games with the Esports club he co-founded. He’s pursuing a computer engineering major at SUNY Binghamton.
His twin sister Sydney says she does “every activity under the sun.” She’s still touring colleges and plans to double major in American Sign Language interpreting and neuroscience on the pre-med track.
“Being a twin is an amazing experience,” says Sydney. “It means knowing I never have to enter anything alone and I always have a personal math tutor.”
Congrats to all of the 2025 grads!
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