Teacher, track coach pays it forward
February 27, 2021
If Kurt Downes’ sixth grade students or fellow teachers are ever looking for him during his lunch break, they can usually find him where they can the rest of the school day — in his classroom.
On an early February afternoon, Downes, a teacher at St. James Catholic Elementary School in Windsor, Ont., who is also an elite-level track and field coach, is spending his lunch hour discussing housekeeping with staff who visit his room while also patiently tending to student’s needs. These days that’s often a kid coming in from the schoolyard to request a fresh disposable COVID mask.