"Requiem for All Saints and All Souls" (Houma)
November 2, 2010
Karl Frazier
November 4, 2010
It wasn’t homecoming or prom, but for educators in the Terrebonne School District, Thursday’s Teacher of the Year Awards at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center was the social event of the season.
Headlining the evening for approximately 800 attendees, hosted by the Terrebonne Foundation for Academic Excellence, was the naming of South Terrebonne High School American history instructor Blaise Pellegrin as Inspirational Teacher of the Year.
Now in his 16th year with the high school, Pellegrin was singled out as the district’s most motivational educator.
“He’s an outstanding teacher [and] a hard worker,” said South Terrebonne Principal Kenneth Delcombre of Pellegrin as his school marked its first-ever win in the inspirational teacher category.
“He was well deserving of it. Even without the award Mr. Pellegrin is an inspiration to the other teachers around him. He leads by doing. If there is something that needs to get done he will step up and do it,” Delcombre said.
Pellegrin is credited with being one who brings textbook lessons to life for his students and offers instruction through his life for others.
“This is right down his line. He will be an administrator in this parish one day very soon,” Delcombre said.
Runners-up for the Inspirational Teacher of the Year award were Charlie Positerry of Terrebonne Career & Technical High School and Joanna Neil of Upper Little Caillou Elementary School.
Additional teachers were honored by academic groupings. Mandy Guillot was named the Elementary School Teacher of the Year for her work at Lisa Park Elementary School. Runners up in this category were Denise Dupre of Mulberry Elementary School and Nicole Norman of Coteau-Bayou Blue Elementary School.
At the middle/junior high school level, Andrea Lotz of Evergreen Junior High School received top honors while Michelle Lapeyrouse of Montegut Middle School and Christina Robinson of Dularge Middle School completed the list as runners-up.
Eugenie Brown of H.L. Bourgeois High School was named High School Teacher of the Year. This category also recognized runners-up Rayemona Boyd of Terrebonne High School and Richard Sasser of South Terrebonne High School.
In addition to individual recognition of teachers the TFAE also awarded grants to local schools to cover all academic disciplines in grades K-12.
“We awarded over $100,000 in grants,” said TFAE Executive Director Yolanda Trahan. “We actually had received over $250,000 in grant requests. So, that says our teachers are going above and beyond looking to do everything possible they can to make the learning process [work].”
Trahan said that the term celebration rightly identified this 11th annual TFAE event. “It’s a celebration of the outstanding work that teachers in the Terrebonne Parish Public School District do for today’s students,” she said.
Terrebonne Foundation Academic Excellence Inspirational Teacher of the Year Blaise Pellegrin combines American history with current events for students during a Monday morning class at South Terrebonne High School. MIKE NIXON
