Once banned for life, 'mooner' now covers CMS

WFAE news intern Nick de la Canal grinned as he introduced himself at this week's Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools news conference.  He could see me struggling to place the name.

"You wrote an article about me a few years ago," he said.

de la Canal

Ah yes  --  the Myers Park mooner!  When he graduated from Myers Park High in 2011,  de la Canal rigged his pants and gown with velcro,  staged a stumble and gave the crowd a view of his polka-dot boxer shorts.  That stunt wouldn't have merited an Observer story,  but the chief of CMS police decided to  "send a message"  by notifying the newly minted graduate he could never again set foot on CMS property.  De la Canal appealed and the ban was reduced to one year.

In my article,  I noted that de la Canal had clashed with school administrators when he penned a musical spoof of the school modeled on  "Charlotte Squawks."  The following week de la Canal was recognized as a celebrity guest at Squawks.  He met Mike Collins,  co-creator of the musical revue and host of WFAE's  "Charlotte Talks."  He was later interviewed by WFAE reporter Scott Graf and met others at the station.

De la Canal went to Emerson College in Boston to major in journalism,  and last summer he landed an internship with WFAE.  This year he's back doing on-air work on topics such as the Read to Achieve program,  which is what brought him to Tuesday's news conference at Hidden Valley Elementary.

"In a way, dropping trou at graduation was the best career move I've made yet. Can't recommend it enough for aspiring young professionals,"  said de la Canal,  in an email agreeing to let me write about what he dubbed  "my boxers-to-briefcase story."

That sense of humor will serve de la Canal well in journalism,  a field notoriously populated with smart-alecks.  But his WFAE bio indicates he's been doing serious work as well,  winning awards for his coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings.

I resisted the temptation to introduce de la Canal to Heath Morrison,  who arrived in 2012,  and fill the superintendent in on his story.  But I'll venture a guess that most folks in CMS aren't sorry to see this alum allowed back on his home turf.