My first Publication Alumni Magazine21-online | Page 27

ISSUE 21, JUNE 2019
Mrs. Birgitta Cattelle was the most important educator I had
at ACS and my best friend from all international teachers
who taught me. After graduation she insisted I call her
Gittan, but at ACS her 8th grade ESL students affectionately
referred to her as Mrs. C., so I will do the same here.
Mrs. C. taught me English. Fluency in English is one of the
most fundamental skills a student needs in the 21st century
for success in a globalized world. English opened doors to
me that would have remained firmly closed otherwise, and
for that I am truly grateful to her.
As a person, Mrs. C. had an enviable sense of smart,
incisive humor, a true appreciation for a job well done,
and zero tolerance for nonsense. She disciplined us with an
unquestionable sense of unquestionable authority and friendly
warmth at the same time. She taught us “common sense” not
only as an expression in English but also as a practice in life.
Mrs. C. instilled in us a true love for reading. If my memory
serves me correctly, she was the first ESL teacher to start a
daily reading competition among prep students. Everyone
was required to read a minimum number of pages per day
from a book of their choice (gradually increased from 10 to
25 pages every quarter), and the section which had read the
most pages by the end of the year won the competition (and a
pizza party, of course). Mrs. C. had a really sweet mini library
in her classroom which stored over 200 titles from her personal
collection, featuring timeless youth classics like The Giver and A
Wrinkle in Time, as well as the latest buzz like the Harry Potter
“ Mrs. C.’s contagious push for
reading turned into a passion
that I carry with me to this day.”
series and Eragon. Mrs. C. had also organized a book-ordering
system through which we could purchase titles monthly from
the rich and exciting catalogue of the American publisher
Scholastic. And while this all may have started as an onerous
homework assignment, Mrs. C.’s contagious push for reading
turned into a passion that I carry with me to this day.
One of my fondest memories of my prep year at ACS was
serving as the “curtain boy” in the musical The Producers. Mrs.
C. supervised the musical, as she did for all of her five years at
ACS. She was instrumental in supporting student producers
Theo Popov ’06 and Velizara Passajova ’06 as well as all of us in
cast and crew, resulting in a fun and memorable show!
Mrs. C. was an incredible teacher, advisor, and educator, but I
was lucky enough to have her as a true friend as well. I kept in
touch with her by email after Bill Cattelle and she left ACS in
2006. In my junior year, I studied abroad at a boarding school
in the U.S. and Mrs. C. made sure to remind me regularly that
I was welcome to visit the Cattelles up in Maine. So I did that
over spring break, and we had a fantastic time. This was in
March 2009, and at that point, the Cattelles were transforming
their lake house on the shore of Branch Pond outside of
Ellsworth, Maine into a home where they would retire and
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Mrs. Cattelle and Georgi Klissurski ’10 at ACS graduation, May 2010.
Mrs. Cattelle, Maria Boshnacova ’10, and Ms. Elka Dacheva at ACS
graduation, May 2010
spend quality time with grandchildren and friends. Even before
the house was fully ready, Mrs. C. and Bill Cattelle welcomed
me enthusiastically, and we had lots of fun reminiscing about
the good old days at ACS and thinking fondly of all of our
Bulgarian friends, classmates, and colleagues.
A year later, in 2010, when my class at ACS was graduating,
Mrs. C. and Mr. Cattelle made the trip over to Bulgaria so they
could celebrate us, the last class they had taught at the College.
We had already become good friends so I was excited for my
parents to meet the Cattelles and take them out to dinner in
Sofia. And so it continued… We kept in close touch over email,
and I visited Mrs. C. again in Maine for Thanksgiving in 2011,
then we met up in New York in 2016 with fellow ACS alum
and good friend of Mrs. C., Stan Andreev ’07.
Through all of those years, Mrs. C. and I communicated actively
over email. Our conversations mostly revolved around plans
to meet up, either in Maine or elsewhere, my educational
and professional development, her pride and love for her
grandchildren and family, and, sadly, her fight with cancer.
Mrs. C. was above all a heroic fighter. She battled cancer for
close to two decades and just like in her ESL classroom, she
faced the challenge with poise, strength, and resolution. There
was no complaining or nonsense. Mrs. C. simply did her best
and inspired all around her in that process.
On behalf of my family and my classmates, thank you, Mrs. C.!
We will always remember you fondly as our amazing teacher
and loyal friend.