The show must go on.
That was the message sent from Candace “Candy” Morrison’s students Thursday to Hudson’s Bay faculty following the death of their beloved choir teacher. Morrison died Wednesday evening when she was thrown from a horse on Northeast Rawson Road, southeast of Hockinson.
A Monday performance was scheduled to be held in the auditorium at Fort Vancouver High School, but students pushed to have it moved to the commons area at Hudson’s Bay. The performance is being dedicated to Morrison.
“It came from the kids,” Patricia Lilly, Vancouver School District’s director of visual and performing arts, said of the decision. “We’re changing the venue to be on our own campus. The kids want to be at home.”
Morrison’s colleagues on Thursday described a teacher who performed beyond her job title and whose absence will leave a gaping hole in Eagles’ hearts.
Lilly hired Morrison to be the school’s choir teacher in 2006. Morrison, 58, had spent nearly three decades as a choir teacher in the West Linn School District in Oregon.
She joined the staff at Hudson’s Bay after a brief retirement because, according to Lilly, she couldn’t stay away.
“She needed to be in the company of young people,” said Lilly, talking through sniffles. “Fortunately for us. Fortunately for her kids.”
Counselors from across the Vancouver School District were on campus Thursday, available to talk with students, said Kris Sork, the district’s spokeswoman. A phone tree was used to spread word to teachers late Wednesday, Sork said.
Teachers then read a prepared statement to students when they arrived to class in the morning.
A room at the school was set up for students to share laughs, shed tears and remember Morrison, who was described by colleagues as “well-loved.”
“She really brought out the best music in her kids,” Lilly said. “But it was the personal connection that made her unique.”
One student on Thursday shared stories of her relationship with Morrison, who Lilly said connected “with kids in a really personal way that, for some of these kids, I’m sure, will have an impact on them for life.”
“She was helping one of her seniors apply for college,” Lilly said. “(The student) said if it wasn’t for Mrs. Morrison, ‘I wouldn’t even be going to college.’”
Tony Jacobs, a security officer known to break into song in the Hudson’s Bay hallways, said he got to know Morrison when he practiced and then performed with students during the choir’s Motown concert nearly two years ago.
“She always had time to spend with people,” Jacobs said. “She was always one of those teachers that students could always go to and really talk to. “
Morrison’s death marks the second accidental death of a Hudson’s Bay teacher in six months. Popular technology teacher Gordon Patterson died Sept. 15 in a bicycle accident.
Morrison of Battle Ground is survived by her husband, Rodger, three grown sons and more than 30 years worth of students and colleagues.
Barbara Bennett worked closely with Morrison the past four years, performing the piano alongside the choir. She said Morrison was an active grandma. “She was involved with all three of her children’s lives,” Bennett said.
Bennett will perform with the students during Monday’s tribute.
“There were some pretty sad kids today in school,” Bennett said. “We’re all going to miss her.”
