Kathy

“	Kathy didn't mean to be opposite. She'd discovered she liked being nice and having friends. She just really thought they were called push-ups.	”
— Narration in "Push-Downs"

Kathy
Personal Information
Gender	Female
Occupation	Student at Wayside School
Friends	Everyone in Mrs. Jewls's class Sammy D.J.
Enemies	Everyone in Mrs. Jewls's class (formerly) You (presumably formerly)
Family
Pets	Skunks (formerly) Gross
Production Information
First appearance	"Mrs. Gorf"
Last appearance	"Rainbow"

Kathy is a character in the Wayside School books. She does not appear in the cartoon. She is one of the many students in Mrs. Jewls's class. Originally the meanest and most spiteful kid in the class, much of this was reversed upon a visit with Dr. Pickell, the school counselor.

Appearance

In "Explanation," Allison states that Kathy wears a sweater, and in "Oppositosis," it is revealed that Kathy has black hair. No other descriptions of Kathy's appearance currently exist.

Personality

Originally, Kathy was a persistent grouch. Her introductory chapter made a point about how much she hates everyone that she does and does not know. She took pain out of the misery of others, as is seen in “D.J.,” where it's mentioned that Kathy would only ever laugh if someone hurt themself, and in “Kathy and D.J.,” she actively made an effort to make D.J. feel worse that ultimately backfired. At this time, she was additionally very self-absorbed, oftentimes ignoring others’ advice just so she would be right in the end, as is seen in “Kathy,” and she additionally tries to argue that Santa Claus isn’t real during the class’s Christmas party in “Santa Claus.”

However, even at this time, there were moments where Kathy would open up to the rest of the class. In “The Substitute,” she feels upset when Mrs. Franklin is leaving, and in “Something Different About Mrs. Jewls,” she feels the same way towards Mrs. Jewls. In “D.J.,” she manages to join the rest of the class in laughter at the joy of seeing D.J.’s smile.

In “Up and Down,” Kathy takes a trip to the counselor's office, a story later fully revealed in “Oppositosis.” Dr. Pickell realizes Kathy to have a particularly strong case of oppositosis, and attempts to cancel it out by trying to turn her opposites into double opposites, by having her imagine herself walking through a mirror. The end result is a near-complete reversal of Kathy's personality. The version of Kathy that results from this is very kind and considerate, frequently complimenting and encouraging her classmates. In “Eric, Eric, and What's-His-Name? ,” she celebrates Eric Ovens's achievement in collecting nail clippings, even after he was outshone by Eric Bacon, and in “What's the Point? ,” she seems to encourage everyone’s choices for spelling words. However, thanks to the method by which Dr. Pickell treated her, she winds up writing everything mirrored, something that caused trouble for Mrs. Jewls when reading her papers.

In "The Mirror," Dr. Pickell shatters a mirror, which he had previously had Kathy imagine when she was getting her oppositosis treated. While Kathy no longer always will go with whatever everyone else is saying, her newfound personality does not change much, as in "Push-Downs" it is revealed that Kathy genuinely enjoyed being a better person. In later chapters, she continues to be a kind and encouraging character, helping Stephen prepare to bang the gong in "Breathe," and celebrating the record Joy sets in "Jump Rope Arithmetic." Though, as a result of having oppositosis, having it doubled to cancel it out, having that reverted, but being left wishing to better herself, the other kids don’t always know when Kathy is speaking in opposites or not, as is seen in "Rainbow," when she compliments Miss Mush's cooking. As seen in "Push-Downs," she occasionally even trips up herself.

Relationships

D.J.

Kathy enjoying tormenting D.J.. ("Kathy and D.J.," 2004)

For a long time, Kathy did not like D.J. because he smiles too much, as shown in "Kathy" and "Kathy and D.J." In the latter, she regularly pesters D.J., doing everything in her effort to make him feel more miserable, though her efforts are mainly unsuccessful, as D.J. doesn't care much for materialistic things. In "Valooosh," when dancing with him, Kathy takes great joy out of kicking him in the rear. However, Kathy does laugh with him in "D.J.," showing her opinion may not be entirely negative. As shown in "Kathy and D.J.," D.J. considers Kathy to be a friend, but it was not until "Up and Down" that Kathy returned the compliments, which actually catches D.J. off-guard. From that moment, Kathy and D.J. seem to share a mutual relationship as friends, as D.J. compliments her backwards handwriting in "The Mirror," though she retorts that it's "warm" when D.J. claims it's cool. In "Rainbow," she seems impressed, albeit confused by D.J.'s sense of smell, being able to smell Mr. Pepperadder's laces, or rather, the lack thereof.

Allison

Before Kathy became nicer, Allison still made attempts to befriend Kathy. In "Kathy," Allison tries to give Kathy a cookie she baked, hoping that Kathy will be friends with her afterwards. However, Kathy waits two weeks to eat the cookie, so it ends up tasting terrible anyway. In "Why Boys and Girls Are Silly," Allison invites every girl in Mrs. Jewls's class to her party, likely including Kathy. In "Explanation," Allison takes a moment to compliment Kathy's sweater, even despite her earlier insults. It can be presumed that now that Kathy is nice, that Kathy appreciates her more, but the two have not been seen interacting since.

Stephen

Kathy and Stephen are first seen interacting in "Santa Claus," where Kathy tries to tell Stephen that Santa is not real, and Stephen retaliates against her, arguing that she doesn't have Christmas cheer. Although this interaction is negative, it is before Kathy's change in personality, as Kathy appears to have a positive opinion of him throughout Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom. In "Push-Downs," she is in the crowd of students that encourages Stephen when he's doing his pushdowns, even if she's pretty sure they're actually called push-ups, and in "Breathe," she helps him calm down when he's nervous about ringing the gong. In "Kachooga Boop," when Mrs. Jewls's paper clip closet is blocking the door, Kathy claims that Stephen should be strong enough to help the other students dislodge it to escape the classroom.

Eric Ovens

In "Eric, Eric, and What's-His-Name? ," Kathy is encouraging towards Eric Ovens when he feels bummed about having his record heavily outshined by Eric Bacon. Kathy, however, continues to act supportive towards Eric Ovens, helping him present his collection of nail clippings, and celebrating that he brought in the second-largest amount at the time. While Eric Ovens initially worries about talking with Kathy, worrying she'll just be mean, he realizes quickly that she has become genuinely nice by "Oppositosis," and the two appear to be friends.

Appearances

For a list of every chapter Kathy is seen in, see here.

Trivia

• She is not in the cartoon, alongside Allison, Benjamin, Calvin, D.J., Dameon, Deedee, Jason, Joy, Mac, Paul, Ron, Terrence, and Sue.

Gallery

See a gallery for Kathy here.

Other designs

Peter Allen design (British edition, 2004)

Satoshi Kitamura design (Japanese edition, 2010)