Sting Mourns The Death Of A Student He Taught When He Was A Schoolteacher, ‘I’m Completely Gutted’

In an Instagram post, Sting has reacted to the sad news he received about Kevin Anderson, one of the kids he taught as a schoolteacher in the mid-70s, and shared some happy memories he had with Kevin after learning that he recently passed away.

As you might know, Sting has been working as a schoolteacher before he joined the rock band, The Police. He attended Northern Counties College of Education between 1971 and 1974 and then started working as a teacher for two years in St. Paul’s First School. He was known as Mr. Sumner and he taught English, music, and was a soccer coach back then. He was also performing during the breaks from the teaching. Sting is known to consider teaching as one of the most important jobs on the planet and claims that the entire future depends on the education kids get.

According to a post he shared recently on his official Instagram account, Sting is seen grieving the loss of one of his students. He said that he received some sad news about the death of the student, Kevin Anderson, who he taught when he was a teacher in Cramlington in the mid-70s. He added three pictures of Kevin to the post and commented upon them. As for the first picture which is a childhood photo, he said that Kevin was a lovely, joyful, and hopeful kid.

Sting then added that Kevin had a special place for him apart from the other kids as he had a heart made of gold. He mentioned that he had met him again a few years ago. For the second and third ones, he described the photos which were Kevin’s more recent ones. He then added what he wrote about him in his book Broken Music. He ended his post with his condolences and said that he still cannot believe he is gone. At the end of what he wrote, he is seen calling himself ‘Mr. Sumner.’

Sting’s post read:

“I received some very sad news this week that Kevin Anderson has passed away. Kevin was one of the kids I taught when I was a schoolteacher in Cramlington in the mid-70s. (1/3) As you can see from the picture he was a lovely lad, full of joy and hope and not a little bit of mischief. I loved all of those kids, but Kevin particularly had a heart of solid gold and a special place in my mine. I met up with him again a few years ago and I could tell that his life had not been without its problems.

(2/3) Here’s a pic of Kevin and his son Dan at St. James’ Park in Newcastle, loyally wearing the team’s colors. (3/3) And this is Kevin and his old teacher, who clearly hadn’t seen a razor in 6 months. Here is what I wrote about him in Broken Music. Although the publishers put the comma in the wrong place in the punchline. It should read….’Er…It’s me mam!’ (‘Me’ being Geordie for ‘my’.)

I’m completely gutted, I still think of Kev as a cheeky wee bairn, I can’t believe he’s gone. God bless ye son, may ye rest in peace. Mr. Sumner.”

You can see the photos he shared on his Instagram below.