Euclid Alumni Take 5 with Kate McLaughlin '83

Kate McLaughlin, Euclid Senior High School graduate with the Class of 1983.

Kate McLaughlin was an avid joiner at Euclid Senior High School, participating in athletics (cross country and track) and enjoying ski club, year book, spirit club and student council where she was elected President her senior year. Kate earned her bachelor’s degree in communications from Kent State University, her master’s degree in education from Notre Dame College and then put her skills to use as a community policing specialist and crime analyst for the City of Euclid Police Department. Kate plays a critical role in developing community-police relations, communicates crime prevention and trend data to the public, and currently operates the Crime Analysis Unit for the Euclid PD, where she provides research to help with intelligence-led policing. Kate was Euclid Police Employee of the Year in 2015 and received the Exceptional Service award. In 2018, the Ohio Crime Prevention Association awarded Kate Crime Prevention Practitioner of the Year for the State of Ohio, and she was also named Member of the Year in 2018 by the Greater Cleveland Safe Kids/Safe Communities Coalition. Kate is one of a select group of Euclid Senior High School graduates who was raised in Euclid, raised her own family her, and still lives and works in Euclid.

Where did you grow up in Euclid?
I grew up in a large home near Lake Shore Boulevard that is over 100 years old, and I actually live there now with my own family! It’s one of Euclid’s unique properties because it is the original house from when that area was farm property with no other homes around it. I have a picture of the house with a cow in the front yard!

Where did you go to school before Euclid High?
I attended Kindergarten at Upson Elementary School and from first to eighth grade I attended St. William’s Catholic School. I chose a different direction from my fellow students by transferring to the Euclid public schools. I remember the strange looks I received from students the day my father and I went into Forest Park Junior High School to get registered for ninth grade because I was dressed in my plaid skirt uniform! Euclid Senior High School was only 10th through 12th grades back then, but the freshman class was brought to the high school in the fall of 1982.

Which teacher or class do you remember most and why?
I was sitting in the middle row front for Mr. Kelly’s history class at Euclid, slightly bored and chewing my gum a little too vigorously when, during one of his monotonous daily lectures, the gum fell right out of my mouth directly onto my open text book. Without a beat he stated, “This fact could make the gum fall right out of your mouth!” Confusion ensued as absolutely no one in class understood what he was talking about except me! I see Jim Kelly out and about to this day because we both still live in Euclid.

Did you have a favorite spot in Euclid, and what did you like about it?
I remember Armao’s Pizza on Euclid Avenue and Babbitt Road because the aroma of the restaurant was so inviting and the pizza crust and sauce was amazing. Other spots with fun memories include running cross county practices through Euclid Creek Park where the girls’ team tied the boys’ team warm-ups into knots, attending football games in Sparky DiBiasio Stadium, and ice skating at C.E. Orr Ice Arena.

What, if anything, about your Euclid High experience would you do over?
I wish I could have participated in one of the plays or musicals during my three years at Euclid Senior High School, but students were not permitted to do both a play and a sport at the same time.

Know an alumnus of the Euclid Public Schools with an interesting story to tell? Please let us know by e-mailing the alumni office at alumni@euclidschools.org.