“I was so ashamed….”

Original article was published on Dec. 19th in Gazeta Sporturilor

Claudia Presacan was a role model for the students from elementary school Number 30 in Timisoara, where the former gymnast was a part-time physical education teacher. The students, who always liked going to her class, were stunned when they saw their teacher in such an unexpected situation. The children’s parents expressed their disapproval and asked Claudia Presecan to leave the school due to her “immoral conduct.” School principal, Maria Jula didn’t even have time to let Presecan know about that decision because the former gymnasts handed in her own resignation –too ashamed!

One of the most modern schools in Timisoara, elementary school No. 30 almost looks like a gift from the city officials to the people living in the middle class neighborhood where it’s located. A few days before Christmas break, the school is bustling with activity and students are anxious to go home. Four months ago, on September 15th, the school found a “gold nugget”, as principal Maria Jula talked about Claudia Presacan coming in to work for the school. "We were very happy when she came to us. We held a diner banquet on Saint Mary’s day, on September 8th and I introduced her to the other teachers,” said Maria Jula.

Claudia taught very little. From September 15th to October 10th, she asked to take an unpaid vacation, saying she has to go to Japan. “I gave her permission to do this because I thought her trip was related to gymnastics. I didn’t know why she went there,” explains Maria Jula. The second break followed from November 15-29. The principal claims that whenever she was in school, Claudia was an excellent professor. After the pictures were published, she was so ashamed, she called the school and said she’s not coming back. She had found out her gesture was condemned by the majority of the children’s parents. “I’m ashamed to come back,” the former gymnasts told the principal.

Presecan taught physical education classes to 5th graders, and had an optional gymnastics class for 1st-4th graders. Her students were the first ones to bring her nude pictures to school. Clamor ensued. The children told their teachers they saw the former gymnast’s nude pictures in Gazeta Sporturilor. “When I asked them which teacher are they talking about, they told me it was Miss Presecan", recalls a shocked Elena Moldoveanu, music teacher at the school.

After the huge scandal caused by Claudia’s nude pictures, several parents asked their students’ teachers to have her removed from their school. "There were reactions of that type, but the respective parents didn’t come directly to me,” added Maria Jula. One of the parents who took a stand was Mrs. Ana Pascaru, a PTA member. “My daughter is in 6th grade and even if Claudia Presacan was not her teacher, I didn’t tell her the former gymnast taught at her school. There were several parents who voiced their disapproval towards Presacan’s actions. Especially since she was a teacher.”

The person who took over Presacan’s job as a PE teacher is another former athlete, national swimming champion Camelia Suba. “It’s not up to my to comment on her actions. But, being a teacher, I wouldn’t have acted the same way,” says Camelia.

If she wanted to return to teaching, the Education laws, state that “Commercializing obscene materials, in written, audio or visual form is strictly prohibited,”, she would have automatically been excluded form teaching because she engaged in activities that are not compatible with the standing of a job in education.

Having a teacher, even if it were a substitute, posing nude in a porn magazine is unprecedented in Timisoara. "Even if she exhibited model behavior while on the job, her attitude just doesn’t seem to match the status she has in our country. I don’t approve of her wearing the national colors in that posture,” said Elena Moldoveanu.

In attempt to bring things back to normal, the home room teachers discussed the situation with their students and asked them what they thought about the pictures. One brave soul, a 7th grader, told his music teacher “she’s so beautiful!”

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