Like some other teachers, Mr. Knerr, a sophomore Western Civilization teacher who has worked at Westminster for twenty-one years. has a class pet–but it’s not what you would think. Mr. Wolfe has his snail, Mr. Hall has his fish, and Mr. Knerr has his cat. Atop a bookshelf in his room sits a stuffed wildcat with glass eyes.

Like Lucy in The Chronicles of Narnia, Knerr and his friend opened a closet at the old campus and discovered a land ruled by a mysterious cat. They decided to take their new friend from his world to theirs.

“My friend Warren Smith who used to work here, we were just […] going around the school just being goofy, and we opened up a closet and there he was. So we took him.” said Knerr.

However, with great power comes great responsibility. Knerr and Smith did not have the best of intentions with the wildcat. Instead of keeping him in their own rooms, they decided to let others have the joy of meeting their new friend.

“What we used to do is take him around the school and hold his little face in windows and listen to everybody scream. So that was […] very entertaining. But since then, he’s kinda started to fall apart a little bit.” said Knerr.

Unlike students taking honors chem, the wildcat actually has a life outside of Westminster. He has traveled across the country and even visited Mount Rushmore. Sadly, these extravagant adventures have taken a toll on the stuffed cat’s health.

“I’ve taken him to South Dakota […] I think I took him to Oregon once, just so the cat could be a part of that and experience that. I think that was the beginning of the end. His little paws are falling off, and his arms are falling off.” said Knerr.

“I never named him. I should have. I don’t know. Probably now his best name would be […] Stumpy.”

In his current decomposing state, the cat now stays atop the bookshelf, watching over the class with his glassy gaze. Perhaps angry at his fate, students claim they can feel his stare on them.

“I can feel him watching me. All the time, his eyes are on me. It haunts me even in my sleep.” said sophomore Adison O’Brien, a student in Knerr’s sixth hour class.

We may never know the possibly tragic or perhaps even heroic origins of the wildcat. However, he has led a long, fulfilling life as a stuffed mascot. He will live the rest of his days on his perch on the bookshelf, forever haunting students through his green, glass eyes.