FAREWELL TO MICHÈLE MORTON She also brought history to life through Little Red Schoolhouse Day, an event in which students dress in period costumes and experience school as it was during the 1860s. In addition, she is known for leading class fundraisers (while teaching students money sense and salesmanship), organizing spelling bees and math contests, crafting engaging science lessons, and reading to students in character voices. More than what she did, however, she is beloved for who she is: funny, dedicated, and caring. One former student recalls: “I will always remember the time when my classmate fell asleep. Instead of waking him up, [Mrs. Morton] put a blanket on top of him and let him rest.” Mrs. Morton’s co-teacher, Gloria Kim, says, “Michèle epitomizes excellence, both by modeling it in her own life and by helping students find their own excellence.” Mrs. Morton says she was blessed to have worked at Catalina—and to have stuck around long enough to teach the children of the children she once had in her classroom. The students kept her young, she says, adding, “Their energy, enthusiasm, silliness—all of that keeps you from being too much of a grownup.” If you ever needed to find Michèle Morton, you just had to follow the giggles. This fourth-grade teacher, who retired last spring after 39 years at Santa Catalina, was both delightful and easy to delight. As a teacher who enjoyed everything about her craft, she inspired a love of learning in hundreds of students while masterfully ushering them through a pivotal phase in their educational journey. Mrs. Morton started at Santa Catalina in 1976 as a second-grade teacher. She was Miss Casey then, and a newsletter article from those early years highlighted her “irrepressible French vitality and her Irish humor.” Mrs. Morton remembers the youthful energy among the faculty at the time, and she fondly recalls a marshmallow fight at the principal’s house. “I believe we rode tricycles up and down his hallways as well,” she notes. Teaching second grade filled her days for eight years; then Miss Casey married Howard Morton, a line officer in the U.S. Navy whom she met on a blind date set up by a Catalina colleague. The couple moved from place to place for the next several years until they finally settled in Monterey again after Mr. Morton retired. In 1992, Mrs. Morton returned to Santa Catalina to teach fourth grade, her home base for the next 30 years. Mrs. Morton pioneered the Gold Country overnight field trip, which fourth graders take every year as part of their study of California history. She always delighted in the black rubber boots that everyone wore to pan for gold in the river. She recalls, “Everybody looked ridiculous. It was always a big question as to who got the boots that leaked. There was a year when I got the boots. Literally every step I took, water shot out of the sides, and the kids were hysterical. That’s part of the fun.”
In retirement, Mrs. Morton is excited to play in her garden, to read the novels she hasn’t yet had time to read, to return to her sewing machine, and to spend more time with her husband. As she “rediscovers the rhythms of life,” as she puts it, the memories of Santa Catalina will never be far away. She remarks: “It has been amazing. I don’t think I would have been here for 39 years if it wasn’t a pleasure.”
BRENDA BHASKAR Mrs. Bhaskar retired after 14 years at Catalina. She served in many roles, including parent, volunteer, substitute, and teaching assistant in grades 4 and 5.
ADVICE FOR STUDENTS: “BE INCLUSIVE. YOU NEVER KNOW ABOUT SOMEONE ELSE UNTIL YOU DO KNOW THEM. AND DO YOUR HOMEWORK!”
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