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Teachers celebrate former student
By Alfie Lau
Record Reporter
Karen Catherwood and Bob Parsons were proudly playing hooky from their respective jobs as principal of Lord Kelvin and vice-principal of Queensborough Middle School on Wednesday morning.
Instead, they were at Richard McBride Elementary as assembled print and television media came to see their former student, Justin Morneau.
Both Catherwood and Parsons felt it important enough to make it to McBride to say hello and reacquaint themselves with the reigning American League most valuable player.
They also made sure that they got their pictures taken with the 25-year-old who has gone on to bigger and better things on an international stage.
"I taught Justin (Morneau) in Grade 4 and that was 1991," said Catherwood, who was known by her maiden name of Karen Coombs back then.
"I remember he had a great sense of humour, he was a great athlete and he was a good student. He was a bit mischievous, though."
Catherwood said she still follows Morneau's progress, with much of her information coming from Morneau's mother, Audra Sinclair, a resource teacher at McBride.
"Audra is so proud of him and for very good reason," Catherwood said.
"It's nice to see your students experiencing success and it's nice to celebrate their successes. You hope you played a part in that success in some way but for Justin to be doing such great things, he's someone kids here can look up to and see what happens when you have dedication and determination to what you want to be."
Parsons, who taught Morneau in Grade 5, said he's not surprised Morneau became a major leaguer; he's only surprised at how fast success has come to his former student.
"Justin was very dedicated and very focused so it's not surprising he made it to the majors," Parsons said.
"What I'm most proud of is he was a good kid and he hasn't changed a bit. It's really remarkable that he still has that little grin. _ He was mischievous at times, but he was a good kid who never got into trouble because he was always so busy."
Morneau didn't deny being a handful for his former teachers.
"I remember when I got in trouble, I had to move my desk to the front and be right beside Ms. Coombs's desk," Morneau admitted.
"I liked to talk a lot and she didn't want me to disrupt the rest of the class. She always said I liked to be the centre of attention."
Catherwood said Morneau had a very caring streak even as a youngster.
"Justin has always had a big heart," Catherwood said.
"I remember we had a disabled student in our class at the time and Justin always made sure he was like a big brother. He was only nine years old but he was already looking out for others."
Morneau said his mother taught him to be a friend to everybody.
"When you're an athlete, you can influence others because when you're picking teams, you can pick somebody first and it will mean so much to them," Morneau said. "I tried to be friends with everybody."
While Parsons has only seen Morneau play in the majors once - "It was two years ago and it was a miserable rainy day," Parsons remembered - Catherwood is hoping to make it down to Seattle this summer to see Morneau for the first time.
"I've been meaning to see him play and Audra and I have talked about it," Catherwood said. "I think I have to go this year."
"I'll see what I can do," Sinclair said, pointing out that the Twins are in Seattle in August, a perfect time for school administrators because of the summer break.
published on 01/20/2007
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