Catherine Moore retires after 43 years

Friday, May. 23, 2014

BOUNTIFUL — Catherine Moore, Saint Olaf fifth-grade teacher, will retire at the end of the 2014 school year from the same school at which she began her 43-year career. During those years, however, she also ventured out of state and away from the school. 

After graduating from Judge Memorial Catholic High School and the University of Utah, Moore joined the Peace Corps from 1969 to 1971 before starting her teaching career at St. Olaf School in 1972. “I taught for six months at the old Cathedral School,” she said. 

In 1983, Moore moved to Geneva, N.Y. to teach religious education at two parishes. After seven years, she returned to Utah at Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish in Price as a part-time religious education teacher and part-time school teacher at Notre Dame School.

In 1994, she received a scholarship from the Extension Society to attend Fordham University in New York and received a master’s degree in religious education. 

Following that, she returned to Ogden in 1996 to teach theology at Saint Joseph Catholic High School. From there she became the principal of Our Lady of Lourdes School in Salt Lake City from 1999 to 2006.

Moore decided to return to the classroom and taught at Saint John the Baptist Elementary School for two years before going back to St. Olaf.

“It was wonderful to get back into teaching after being a principal,” Moore said. “Being in the classroom is what I love.”

Kathleen Pond, in her first year as principal of St. Olaf School, has appreciated having Moore as a mentor, she said. 

“Ms. Moore, because she has been a principal, has been a fount of wisdom, understanding, kindness and patience with my many questions and concerns; she’s been invaluable,” said Pond. “You can’t find her years of experience and expertise in a book. She has led our faith formation every morning and has helped all of us.”

Moore is “patient with the students, yet firm,” said Pond, adding that she is very organized in the classroom.  “She is a role model for all of us,” she said. 

From a parent’s point of view, she helped “my daughter who was struggling with reading comprehension,” said Lori Jacobs, St. Olaf second-grade teacher. “Ms. Moore guided my daughter and gave her strategies she still uses today.” 

Jacobs admires Moore for taking the time to tutor students after school to help them gain study skills and confidence; even those who weren’t in her class, Jacobs said. “On her break, she also has given attention to and helped pre-k and kindergarten students who were having behavior problems.”

Moore’s goal in her career has been to “love the kids and give them opportunities to explore the world of learning,” she said. “I love learning and I love to see the kids share what they have learned.”

Moore liked teaching religious education, but also enjoyed teaching social studies and composition writing, she said. “I have enjoyed introducing them to the classics, such as The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare and Wonder by P. J. Palacio.”  

Teaching the students to be respectful of each other also has been Moore’s goal, she said. “When the students are kind, they show the face of God,” Moore said. “I also like to help kids focus on issues that arise between them; show them how to solve issues peacefully.  Being able to talk about God can teach them the values based on our Catholic faith and Christianity.”

Moore became a teacher because her godmother was a teacher; she was her role model, she said.