Ex-teacher treasures affair with student
Lisa Sandberg
San Antonio Express-News
May 16, 2002 11:00:00

SAN ANTONIO - To nearly everyone at the Winston School, she was Ms. Marquis. To the 17-year-old student with whom she had an affair, she was simply "Princess."

Sitting in the back row of the courtroom, former teacher and swimming coach Angelique Marquis, 33, shifted uncomfortably as her ex-lover, the boy she once coached, now 19, described to a civil jury on Wednesday the beginning of their three-month relationship in the spring of 2000.

"I thought it was pretty cool," he said, referring to the special attention he received from Marquis. At one point, he told jurors about kissing her just before another teacher walked into a room, nearly catching them in the act.

The man, whom the Express-News is not naming, is expected to continue his testimony later this week.

During a court recess, Marquis said she is not at all pleased having the personal details of her life aired.

But aside from the bad press for the private academy for the learning disabled, Marquis doesn't exactly regret what happened. The two shared many wonderful experiences, she said, and the student showed her a basic respect that had been absent in her prior relationships. She said she will treasure it forever.

She said she's not angry with the student for filing a lawsuit against the school, but adamantly disagreed with the argument that he was emotionally damaged by the affair.

"He's not going to be emotionally hurt by this," she said.

Marquis, who said she began the affair when emotionally devastated by the breakup of a long-term relationship with her female companion, is not the target of the suit, having settled with the boy's family for $10. It was just a token sum, because the family considers her a victim, too, saying the school should have known she was having problems.

Still, she had to testify, and so she spent at least six hours over a two-day period addressing some of the more salacious details of a relationship with a boy not yet 18.

She has acknowledged spending prom night in a hotel room with her former lover, sending him breakfast tacos during first period class and sending him a birthday card detailing a sexual fantasy.

Sitting outside the courtroom, business clothes covering her 92-pound frame, she said she sometimes wished she had not told school administrators of the relationship. She said she could have resigned her position without revealing why she was quitting.

"My parents always said, 'honesty is the best policy,' but in this case, it hurt the school. If I hadn't been honest none of this would have gone on," she said, referring to the lawsuit.

Marquis said she is anxious to get on with her life.

She has a devoted boyfriend, her own age, who was in court for moral support. She is working part-time tutoring students. Though she said the parents of her students are aware of the suit, she wondered if the media exposure might undermine their confidence in her. She hopes not.

Teaching, she said, has been her gift.