MONTREAL - Forget Sugar Sammy, Montreal has a bicultural cut-up who also runs a school.
And while most principals are appreciated for their wisdom, there's one in Montreal who's known for his wisecracking.
Joe Cacchione might run a school but he started by crunching numbers.
"I was an accountant and I hated accounting," he said. "I couldn't stand being in an office in front of a computer and at the same time I used to love teaching so I go: ‘let's just give it a try.'"Saturday morning Italian lessons eventually led him to becoming a principal at the Centre Ferland.
One student attests to his ability to get a laugh while wielding authority.
"Oh my god, he's a really fun principal," said Kimberly Handfield. "He makes people laugh."
He hit his first real stage after being asked to address a few people at a party.
"I went there thinking there's going to be 20-25 people, 30 people, there were 300 couples," he said.
Cacchione often riffs on the funnier side of being a Canadian with roots in Italy.
"If I say, I don't understand, I don't capice why, why in English you say you have a five o'clock shadow? How can you have a five o'clock shadow at 11 o'clock in the morning?" he asks.
His staff laughs at his jokes because they are high-quality humour, or so he hopes.
"We usually laugh a lot, but then again we don't have much choice," quips Dominique Brassard, Guidance Counselor.
