Students grant teacher's Christmas wish

By Michael Gorman

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

It was nothing more than an off-the-cuff remark.

When Glenn Bourque, a teacher at Arcadia School, told his class that his Christmas wish was to receive a phone call from hockey legend Ray Bourque, he had no idea that the wish might come true.

But for two of Bourque's students, 11-year-olds Bailey O'Connell and Kiersten Finlay, a light bulb went off the minute they learned of the wish. "We just wanted to make his wish come true," said Kiersten when asked about what she and her friend did for their teacher.

You don't have to know Glenn Bourque to know that he puts the fan in fanatic when it comes to the Boston Bruins hockey great.

The teacher's room at Arcadia School has Ray Bourque posters on all four of the walls, he can be regularly spotted sporting his black Bruins jersey with the number 77 on the back and he can recite even the most obscure Ray Bourque facts. The most avid hockey card-collecting students will surrender a Bourque card they might come across, knowing that it would mean more to their teacher.

And so it was, armed with that kind of knowledge, the two girls set out on their plan. "We thought it would be a good idea," said Bailey. "He was half joking about it but then we thought it would be a good idea."

Glenn Bourque already had his hockey hero's autograph. The girls said he told the class about how, though his affiliation with the Yarmouth Mariners — Bourque is on the team's education committee — the team's coach Steve Kasper was able to get him a few signed items. So they decided Kasper would be their best bet for making their teacher's Christmas wish come true. "We thought that (Kasper) could get a hold of (Ray Bourque) and then he did," said Bailey. "He came to the school and we started talking to him and he said he would do it."

The girls said they were very excited to learn they would be able to connect their teacher with his hockey idol. They arranged for Kasper to come to the school, call Ray Bourque in the school office from his cell phone and then everyone would wait for Glenn Bourque to come to the office.

Glenn Bourque, who teachers French at Arcadia, said he had no idea why he was being called to the office. "I thought I was in trouble," he said with a laugh. "I was trying to retrace my steps to (figure out) what I did wrong."

But when he arrived at the office to find Kasper and the two students, he quickly realized that nothing was wrong at all. "When they dropped the surprise on me I couldn't believe it," he said. "I never could have imagined it."

Bourque's love for his namesake goes back 20 years. He said he recognized his hero's voice instantly. "He said, 'I hear you're a pretty big Bruins fan and a pretty big fan of me,' and I said, 'you don't know the half of it.'"

Glenn Bourque said that during their conversation, Ray Bourque told him it was one of his own teachers who helped him believe he could make it as a professional hockey player. Through the support and encouragement of his phys. ed. teacher, the former Bruin said, he was able to learn the value of hard work and importance of being as fit as possible.

As meaningful as it was to get the phone call, Bourque said what meant the most was that two of his students cared enough to do something so special for him. "I always knew that I'd probably get emotional (if I met Ray), but what made it even more special was that two students thought enough of me to help me realize this dream and that made it 10 times more special than if I just met him at a hockey game or something . . . I don't think I'll ever forget this."

As for the girls, they said their teacher's reaction made all the hard work and planning worthwhile. "It was really good," said Bailey. "It was really awesome that we got to give him his wish."