Teacher of year's career began with a long walk

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Teacher of year's career began with a long walk

By Kathleen

Of the Post-Dispatch

06/15/2004

Audrey Ferguson, Missouri' s 2003 Teacher of The Year, will retire after 34

years.

(Dawn Majors/P-D)

Audrey Ferguson has never vaulted, dived, hurdled or wrestled. Despite

creaky knees and a bad heart, this retired math teacher will pass the flame

to three-time Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee at the conclusion

of St. Louis' leg of the Olympic Torch Relay on Thursday.

" They said we weren't supposed to be athletes, " Ferguson said, " but I'm

hoping to do a fast walk. " ...

Along the 34-mile route that winds through the city and inner ring of

suburbs, about 125 runners will pass the flame from one to the other.

Athletes, glitterati, political and corporate big wigs have been kept to a

minimum. Most of the legs will be run by unknowns. Some have legs or hearts

or lungs or some combination thereof not physically suited to the task.

Their spirits break through their physical limitations, though, and their

stories inspire, making them worthy carriers of the Olympic ideals. ...

" We don't have a lot of celebrities, " said Viverito, president of the

St. Louis Sports Commission, which helped organize the event. " This is a run

for the community. In New York or Los Angeles, they tended to go for higher

profile people, but our judges were moved by the stories of people

overcoming adversity. " ...

Here are a few of their stories:

Though Ferguson suffered a heart attack a decade ago, has arthritic knees

and is calling it a day after 34 years in the St. Louis Public Schools, she

has spirit and spunk in abundance. Ferguson was the 2002-2003 Missouri

Teacher of the Year, the first city teacher to receive the honor. Her gift

was reaching at-risk children through her math class at Laclede School.

She's a kindred spirit.

A bright child, Ferguson said she couldn't read sentences or big words in

third grade. Two or three mornings a year for four years, she'd make the

hourlong walk from her neighborhood school, Marshall Elementary, to attend a

remedial reading class at School, missing a half-day of lessons in

the process.

" It was extremely dangerous, " Ferguson said. " I walked through some tough

neighborhoods. "

By seventh grade, though, she was reading on the 10th-grade level.

" I can reach them because I've been where they are now and know you just

have to work at it and believe in yourself, " she said.

Martial artist spends some days in a wheelchair

Doctors told Alberto Friedmann during his undergraduate years that he would

need to use a wheelchair by the age of 25. A decade later, he is running a

leg of the relay but has little time to cherish the experience. He has a

plane to catch Thursday afternoon to Barcelona, Spain, where he will coach

and compete Saturday with the U.S. martial arts team at the Peace Games

World Championships.

" I can be as tired as I want when I get back, " Friedmann said. " This is an

absolute dream come true. I've been a total Olympic junkie ever since the

1980 hockey team won. One of my great disappointments is that my sport isn't

an Olympic sport, so this was absolutely thrilling. "

Friedmann suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a degenerative joint disease

that forces him into a wheelchair two or three days a month. Despite the

disease, he holds fifth-degree master black belts in tae kwon do, karate and

kobudo. He is pursuing his doctorate in pharmacological and physiological

science at St. Louis University's School of Medicine in hopes of finding a

cure for the syndrome. His fiancee, Karly Oesteringer, and her two children

also suffer from Ehlers-Danlos.

" I figure if I'm going into research, I might as well research my own

disease, " he said. " When you're diagnosed, especially as a child, doctors

tell you not to do anything. I say 'Guess what? You don't have to stop

living.' Running with the torch fits right into my message. "

Youngest runner overcomes a series of ailments

At age 19, Schmitz is probably the youngest torch runner.

" It's a huge honor, " she said. " I never thought I'd have the chance to do

this. It came as a shock, and I wish I knew who to thank. "

As a student at Nerinx Hall, Schmitz had her athletic career halted three

times. In her sophomore year, doctors discovered an abnormal heart beat and

corrected it through catheter ablation, in which a tube is inserted into the

heart and destroys abnormal tissue. She then missed parts of her junior and

senior years because of mononucleosis.

In the interim, she volunteered with Outreach, Nerinx's community service

program, providing companionship to retired nuns and cooking meals at a

women's shelter.

She fought back from each medical setback, becoming a Post-Dispatch Scholar

Athlete, earning the Archbishop May service award and an appointment to

the United States Military Academy at West Point, where she is a member of

the soccer team.

" Compared to other people there, I'm not as capable academically, " Schmitz

said. " But I really, really like it a lot. "

These stories and others have fostered a palpable spirit of cooperation. ...

" This is an opportunity for us not only to celebrate our past, " Slay said,

" but also to be a part of a worldwide effort to celebrate peace. "

Reporter Kathleen

E-mail: knelson@...

Phone: