This morning I awoke to the sad news that Mr. Paul Payne had passed away Friday evening. Lori (Dollison) Walgamotte, a member of the Class of '89 and current faculty member at Northshore High shared the sad news on her blog:
Its with such great sadness that I report to you and our classmates that NHS lost one of its very best this evening. Mr. Paul Payne, who taugh many of us at Boyet and has been at NHS since day one, passed away very unexpectedly this evening. Mr. Payne was an incredible man and will be sorely missed.
Mr. Payne you may remember taught the shop, woodworking, and agriculture classes during our days at NHS. HIs curriculum had expanded into professional level classes in greenhousing, aquaculture, and other areas. Mr. Payne was the backbone of NHS, and was known to help any teacher with anything at any time. He single handedly took care of the wood in the school, be it the benches in the commons, building decks and tables for students to enjoy lunch outdoors, and building bookcases and helping teachers with other needs. Construction had just wrapped up on his new Aquaculture building, where the students could see first hand how fish and other water animals live. Unfortunately, Mr. Payne will not see the opening of the building. Mr. Payne had a knack at reaching out to kids who would have normally quit school, and showed them other paths to a long term career for those who weren't college material. The students today look up to him just as much as we did back then - with such respect.
Mr. Payne was at school today, so this comes as a total shock to the NHS community. Please keep his family in your prayers. His wife Karen taught many of us at Boyet - 4th grade math I believe (she was Karen Sanders then). Their sons are also NHS alum.
Lori (Dollison) Walgamotte
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On a personal note, I would like to pass on my sympathies to the entire Payne family as well as the current students, faculty, and alumni of Northshore High.
This tragic news comes on the same week where Northshore High School was honored for having been selected by U.S. News and World Report as one of America's Best High Schools. As an NHS alumus, I would like to congratulate both the current and past NHS administration and faculty and say thank you for all they've done and continue to do for the students, parents, and entire community of Slidell.
"We Are Northshore"
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