Principal leaves office to return to the classroom

SALT LAKE CITY — Cathleen Moore loves to teach and to learn. She decided to leave her position as principal of Our Lady of Lourdes School, Salt Lake City, last year to teach fifth grade at St. John the Baptist Elementary School, Draper.

"Being in education allows me to lead students and help them be the best they can be," said Moore. "I try to instill in students a love of searching for knowledge and new experiences, and teach them how to be responsible members of society living the values of the Catholic Church."

Moore’s desire to teach comes from wanting to follow in the footsteps of her aunt, whom she said she idolized.

"We still have my childhood blackboard that I got for Christmas one year so I could play school," said Moore. "The kids would come over, sit on the floor, and I would teach them."

Moore graduated from Judge Memorial when it was a kindergarten through 12th grade school. She attended Judge Memorial from the fourth grade on.

"I worked my way through college by working at Auerbachs Department store in Salt Lake City," said Moore. "There I worked with a woman who survived a Nazi internment camp. "I remember her always saying, ‘education is knowledge that can never be taken away from you. They can beat you down, but your knowledge is your own.’

"I think the same is true for your spirituality," said Moore. "It is your own. I adopted her philosophy on knowledge, and since then I have been learning and giving children the opportunity to learn."

After graduating from the University of Utah in elementary education, Moore joined the Peace Corps for two years. She went to Nasipit, Agusan in the Philippines. Moore wrote about the Peace Corps for her senior thesis at Judge Memorial. She was inspired to join after the late President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps prior to his death in 1963.

"I realized joining the Peace Corps was what I was supposed to do," said Moore. "In the Philippines, I taught reading to teachers, which always amazed me because I was new and had no teaching experience. I was qualified because I spoke English and I was an American.

"I marveled at all the wonderful things they could do without anything," said Moore. "All they had was a structure with a grass roof that leaked during the rainy season and made the floors muddy. Those students who came from families who could afford an umbrella had one, the rest had nothing. The students walked seven kilometers every day to and from school, and they never missed a day. They were hungry to learn. It was there I learned the world is one and every body has similar needs and desires."

Moore moved back to the United States and began teaching third grade at St. Olaf School, Bountiful, from 1971 to 1983. After that she moved to Geneva, N.Y., and became a religious education teacher at St. Francis de Sales Parish. She also taught religion at De Sales High School.

From there, she returned to Utah to work in Price at Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish, where she was the part-time director of religious education and a part-time teacher at Notre Dame de Lourdes School.

In 1994, Moore received a scholarship from the Extension Society to attend Fordham University of New York in the Bronx run by Jesuit priests. She received her Master’s Degree in religion and religious education.

"It was a gift to be able to study under the Jesuits and live in New York City for a year," said Moore. "Every Saturday, I would take the subway and go into Manhattan."

Moore returned to Utah in 1996, and began teaching theology at St. Joseph Catholic High School, Ogden, for three years before becoming the principal of Our Lady of Lourdes School. Moore served as principal from 1999 through May 2006.

"I loved the community at Our Lady of Lourdes School," said Moore. "They are an awesome group of faculty, parents, and children. It is a very loving and accepting community where ‘everybody is somebody,’ which is the school motto."

About six months ago, Moore began to discern the fact that the five-year strategic plan was ending, and it was time for a new principal to come in and implement a plan for the future.

"Every time I would think about it, I would receive an urging telling me it was time to move on and move back into the classroom," said Moore. "I felt very peaceful, and I knew it was time to turn the school over to someone else.

"In fact, in all my moves, I have received a nudge from the Holy Spirit telling me it was time to move on," said Moore. "When I left St. Olaf School, it was very scary, but since then I have trusted the Holy Spirit. I thought teaching fifth grade would be the most exciting for me given their curriculum and their excitement for learning.

"A position opened up at St. John the Baptist, and the staff there has welcomed me," said Moore. "I am looking forward to becoming a part of the St. John the Baptist School community. But I will remain in contact with the staff at Our Lady of Lourdes School and I will still be a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Salt Lake City."