Tag: Louisiana education

Inaugural STEM Fest Allows Acadiana Students to Explore Big Concepts

Approximately 600 elementary and middle school students from Acadiana got to learn about complex science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) concepts in a fun, interactive, and fully immersive way at the inaugural Acadiana STEM Fest, according to The Acadiana Advocate.

The event, Acadiana STEM Fest, was held in the University of Louisiana Student Union and was the result of a partnership between Peter Sheppard, the executive director for UL Lafayette’s Center for Excellence in Education,and STEM NOLA, a nonprofit focused on exposing communities to STEM learning opportunities.

In total, 40 activities, which were provided by STEM NOLA, were installed inside and around UL Lafayette’s student union and manned by UL Lafayette STEM and education students as well as volunteers from industry partners such as CGI and Fenstermaker. These 40 activities allowed 600 students from Acadia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, and Vermilion parishes to explore STEM concepts in ways that were much more inviting than traditional lecture and research-based methods.

The event allowed students to learn in nontraditional ways that were enhanced by technology. For instance, they could learn about how radio waves controlled drones by actually operating drones in a controlled environment or even learn about structural engineering by crafting sturdy, resilient structures made out of uncooked spaghetti and marshmallows. The director of the event, Peter Sheppard, was reported as saying that he wanted the students to realize that opportunities to learn and apply their knowledge exist far beyond traditional classrooms.

Sheppard spoke on the value of Acadiana STEM Fest’s approach to nontraditional learning by saying, “I think curriculums are restricted. Schools are restricted in what they can do. Those restrictions aren’t there in the real world. Exposure to STEM activities gives them the space to think and to do it and to be curious without having to be evaluated or judged. It can be fun. It can be useful. It can be practical. It can be intellectual.”

Other than having the methods by which the students learn be different from their traditional classrooms, Sheppard also strived to remove any barriers to access for students who otherwise wouldn’t have frequent and free exposure to STEM programing, activities, and learning opportunities such as girls, minority students, and those students from underserved or under-resourced communities.

Speaking on the benefits of the set of skills that one can gain through STEM-based learning, David Hawkins, the director of operations for STEM NOLA, emphasized that the world is becoming more and more STEM-focused by the day, citing the “growing ubiquity of artificial intelligence and computer-controlled equipment and machinery.”

Hawkins stressed the importance of students developing themselves from a root center by challenging their minds; he said, “When we expose our kids to the possibility of being a tennis star or golf star, they put in the time, work, and effort for it. If we expose our kids to the possibilities of being teachers, engineers, doctors, scientists – we train them to move in that direction. Early exposure gives them encouragement and the motivation to move in the direction of STEM. The skillset you learn in the STEM fields transcends throughout your life. Regardless of what you do, you’re going to have to be analytical, solve problems and you’re going to be faced with challenges.”

According to Sheppard, Acadiana STEM Fest is the first of seven planned camp-style events that the Center for Excellence and Education and its Region 4 STEM Network Center are hosting at UL Lafayette in the next few months, which is branded as “STEMulating Summer 2.0.” These upcoming events as well as the inaugural Acadiana STEM Fest were made possible by grant funds from the Louisiana Board of Regents and its LaSTEM Initiative.

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BCBS of Louisiana Foundation Awards Nicholls a Disaster Response Grant

Nicholls State University will soon be able to offer need-based scholarships to help students return to campus after having previously left in the wake of Hurricane Ida. According to this news release from the school, a $100,000 disaster response grant will be utilized to create these scholarships, which will be helpful to students wanting to return to their degree plans.

It was announced by the university in May 2022 that a $100,000 disaster response grant was awarded by The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation. It was also announced that the funds would be utilized so that students who had halted their learning due to Hurricane Ida’s detrimental impact on the area would be able to qualify for a needs-based scholarship that would offset the cost of re-enrolling & returning to classes.

Nicholls State University President Dr. Jay Clune commented on BCBSLA’s award by saying, “even though others outside of South Louisiana have long stopped talking about the effects of Hurricane Ida, we are still feeling the impacts every single day. We are grateful for this partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield. I don’t like to think of where we would be without the support of our wonderful industry and community partners.”

In the wake of Hurricane Ida, the destructive Category 4 Atlantic hurricane that made its landfall near Port Fourchon on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, it was reported that an estimated 25% of Lafourche and Terrebonne Parish homes were destroyed or declared uninhabitable. Additionally, approximately two-thirds of the Nicholls community reported that their homes were destroyed or uninhabitable. Once the storm passed, the BCBSLA Foundation had committed $5 million in funds to areas affected by Ida, and other communities across the Gulf Coast also stepped up.

Earlier this year, The Courier reported that Nicholls State’s spring enrollment had dropped 10% from the previous year, attributing the decline to Hurricane Ida as well as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In August of 2021, Nicholls President Dr. Jay Clune announced that the school would essentially restructure its retention and recruitment strategies. As a result, the university’s decision to have recruitment and retention efforts managed by the Office of Academic Affairs, specifically being led by Sue Westbrook, provost and president for Academic Affairs, and Renee Hicks, assistant vice president of Institutional Effectiveness, Access, and success.

It was then reported that the university’s fall-to-spring retention rate of first-time freshmen had increased by 7.9 percentage points from the previous year to be listed at 90.5%. This was the first time that this retention rate had surpassed 90% in over a decade, thus signaling that Nicholls’ restructuring was beginning to pay off. Renee Hicks interpreted the data by saying, “when we post retention rates like this, it means our entire campus community has come together to provide extraordinary support for our students during the recovery from a major hurricane on top of a pandemic.”

Dr. Clune commented on the promising data, saying, “in addition to our strong retention rates, we also see applications are up year-to-year. I attribute that to our data-led approach to recruitment and retention by Ms. Hicks and her team. With a new marketing campaign and increased recruitment and retention efforts, we anticipate a return to an upward trend in enrollment.”

Pair this earlier indicator of rising enrollment rates with these new needs-based scholarships established from The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation’s $100,000 disaster response grant, and it’s even clearer to see that not just the campus community of Nicholls is coming together to come out of Hurricane Ida stronger than before, but the surrounding community of Houma, Thibodaux, and the State of Louisiana is banding together as well.

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Lafayette Parish Students Earn Career and Technical Education

Recently, the Lafayette Parish School System celebrated the achievements of their students earning certifications or collegiate technical education diplomas through the system’s partnership with South Louisiana Community College while also looking ahead to the upcoming school year’s tenacious mission, as per this feature article from the Acadiana Advocate.

For years, the W.D. & Mary Baker Smith Career Center has served LPSS public high school students as an extension of their base school where they are allowed to attend the Career Center for three hours per day taking technical and career classes in automotive, cosmetology, culinary, medical, industrial technology, and welding programs.

Recently, a recognition ceremony celebrated over a dozen 2022 students from the school’s automotive, welding, and culinary programs earning certifications or collegiate technical diplomas through South Louisiana Community College, but the event was also indicative of an ongoing aim to infuse both pride and prestige along with the skills-based, technical curriculum

During the 2021-2022 school year, approximately 400 students had traveled to the W.D. & Mary Baker Smith Career Center from their base schools in order to spend a portion of their school day learning from and participating in one of the 11 career and technical programs available at the school.

These programs offer students a tremendous “leg up” in seeking a post-secondary education or job; for instance, those students who choose to begin the automotive, culinary, or welding programs as high school sophomores will have the opportunity to earn a Technical Diploma from SLCC upon graduating high school, thus putting them well on their way towards earning an associate’s degree.

The 2022 Recognition Ceremony and signing event both celebrated students’ success in their individual programs while also recognizing their feats as they signed on with future employers from the Lafayette area. Of those employers were: Abendroth Paint and Body, Acadiana Mazda, Arceneaux Ford, AutoZone, Peck’s Precision Lawn Care, Ross Tire and Service, Rotolo’s Pizzeria in Carencro, Service Auto Air, Sicily’s Pizza, Star’s Bake Shop, Super 1 Deli, Theriot Fabrication & Welding Custom Boats, Top Cars Collision Center, Utility and Industrial Supply, and Veronica’s Cafe.

Not only did the event celebrate these students’ hard work they’ve put in toward their futures, but the celebration also recognized the students of the year in each program as well as students graduating from SLCC with a technical diploma that’s based on dual enrollment credits that they’ve earned at the Career Center.

LPSS Superintendent Irma Trosclair addressed the honored students by saying, “we are so excited to celebrate these skilled and talented students and acknowledge their accomplishments. It is our goal to highlight the importance of career and technical education. The skills and credentials students are gaining at the Career Center are important to the students and are also important to the Lafayette community. LPSS will continue to promote career and technical education to graduate workforce ready young men and women.”

Principal of the W.D. and Mary Baker Smith Career Center Dr. Holly Boffy, who also serves on the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, was also present in highlighting the importance of these programs in light of the broader community falsely believing that skills and trade-based jobs are “less than.”

Dr. Boffy disproved the stigma by saying, “It doesn’t feel less when I’m in Louisiana in the middle of the summer and my A/C is not working. All of a sudden HVAC is the most important industry on the planet. I think where we’ve failed as a society is to recognize that all people have gifts, and we fail to give people pathways to use their gifts. That’s what we’re doing here — we’re giving people pathways to careers that are going to help run our community.”

Recently, Principal Boffy guested on Discover Lafayette’s podcast where she both shared “ the school’s mission and new programming being offered in the upcoming 2022-23 school year, such as the implementation of a new HVAC program along with electrical programs. Students and parents interested in Fall 2022 enrollment can visit this LPSS resource for more information.

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Nicholls Hosts Awards For Excellence

Recently, the many achievements of Nicholls State University alumni and other members of the Nicholls community were honored by the Nicholls Alumni Federation at the annual Awards for Excellence ceremony, as per the school.

Held on March 23, 2022, in the Bollinger Memorial Student Union’s Cotillion Ballroom, this year’s ceremony served as an opportunity for the Nicholls State University Alumni Federation to bestow its four Awards for Excellence to high-achieving supporters of Nicholls State University, be they graduates or not. In addition to the four winners of this year’s Awards for Excellence, the Federation honored the 2022 Hall of Fame recipients, which were made up of outstanding graduates from each of Nicholls’ colleges.

Preceded by a cocktail reception, the evening’s awards program saw the bestowing of the James Lynn Powell Award, the Harvey Peltier Award, the Corporate Mark of Honor, the Honorary Alumni Award, and several Outstanding Alumni awards to a member of each of Nicholls’ colleges.

Katherine Mabile, the director of Alumni Affairs for the Nicholls Alumni Federation, said of the evening, “we are so blessed as a university to have men and women such as these who have contributed so much to this institution and our community over the years. his university would not be here today without the passion and commitment of our remarkable alumni. It is an honor to recognize them through our awards ceremony.”

The James Lynn Powell Alumni Award is the single highest recognition given to a graduate of Nicholls State University. This year Michael J. Hebert, Jr, a native of Houma, was the recipient of this honor. Hebert is the chief of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as well as the National Jones Act Division of Enforcement (JADE). Hebert has spent over three decades in federal service, including nine years in the military, and in 2016, CBP charged the 2-time Nicholls Graduate with defining, establishing, and leading the newly-formed JADE division.

Today Hebert is responsible for the CBP’s coastwide trade enforcement strategy,, but he’s never forgotten his collegiate roots. Hebert returned to Nicholls from 2015 to 2018 to serve as an adjunct instructor of Petroleum Engineering and Safety Technology Management and criminal justice. Hebert had also contributed to the development of the criminal justice program’s curriculum.

The Harvey Peltier Award is the highest award given to a non-graduate of Nicholls. Similar to the criteria for receiving the James Lynn Powell Award, the recipient of this honor must be considered to be outstanding in their chosen field, contribute to the university and the community, and cannot be a Nicholls Graduate. This year’s Harvey Peltier Award was given to Mr. and Mrs. Salvador M. Brocato, III, two Nicholls supporters whose support began in 2017 when their son, Dominic Brocato, joined the Nicholls Football team.

Members of both the Nicholls Foundation and the Huddle Up Club, the Brocatos’ support for the university is felt across the campus. Not only were they the first to donate to 2020’s Boucvalt Family Athletic Complex Naming Campaign but they have also made remarkable contributions to the Nicholls Police, the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute, and the maritime management program, among many others.

The Corporate Mark of Honor is an award that’s typically awarded to an organization that has proven to be a strong supporter of Nicholls and its mission. This year, Nicholls State University President Dr. Jay Clune awarded the Corporate Mark of Honor to the Giardina Family Foundation, which has given to the Dyslexia Center, Nicholls Foundation, and other organizations across their years of service.

The Honorary Alumni Award is an honor bestowed to a non-graduate of the university who has shown a special interest in the school and who has given their time to Nicholls over the years. This year, Maria B. Cruse, MD., received the Honorary Alumni Award, as she has been highly involved with the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute. Dr. Cruse was named an honorary culinary faculty member in 2011 and had a key role in the creation of the Culinary Guild.

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LDOE Distributes $17 Million in Teacher Support Grant Funds

In recognition of the tremendous amounts of effort towards uninterrupted learning that they’ve put forward during the coronavirus pandemic, child care providers have been approved to receive a second round of teacher support stipends and wage supplements by the Louisiana Department of Education, according to a March 17th news release.

It would be a massive understatement and misaligned judgment to not consider Louisiana’s child care providers as essential frontline service workers amid the Covid-19 pandemic. As reported by the LDOE, the pandemic has significantly impacted both the field of child care and in this case, especially child care teachers. These significant impacts continue to contribute to the ongoing issue of teacher turnover, as they join other stressors that child care teachers face.

A research study that was conducted by the University of Virginia found that over 30% of early child care educators reported difficulty in paying rent, 40% consider themselves food insecure, and over 50% report being unable to pay for medical expenses. In light of these distressing statistics, the LDOE has funded two rounds of the 2021-2022 Teacher Support Grant for open Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) child care providers.

The initial round of $10,681,600 in grant funds was distributed to over 600 open child care providers in the form of stipends and wage supplements in August of 2021, and recently, the second round of the Teacher Support Grant, amounting to $17,492,800, was distributed to over 700 open child care providers in February 2022.

Both rounds of the Teacher Support Grant have been funded and issued in direct response to an early childhood workforce report that was submitted to the Louisiana Legislature by the Louisiana Department of Education. The LDOE’s report detailed key information about the impacts, funding, and costs of early childhood care and education in the state of Louisiana.

Further detailed in the report, it was stated that approximately 35% of teachers in early childhood education leave their sites of employment or placement at some point each year, and that percentage is increased to approximately 44% in child care centers. The report also found that only one-third of the teachers observed in Louisiana’s publicly-funded early childhood classrooms are still teaching in that same location three years later, signaling distressing turnover.

The Executive Director of the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children, Dr. Libby Sonnier, commented on the issue of child care provider retention and turnover by saying, “when qualified, experienced educators are constantly leaving the field, it’s inevitable that we will see direct impacts on quality. Either a program will have a ceiling of success that it will not be able to exceed, or worse, we will start seeing a reduction in quality as programs struggle to recruit and retain strong early care and education staff.”

This high percentage of child care provider turnover was just one of the contributing factors presented to the Louisiana State Legislature, contributing to them approving the second round of funding. Another contribution comes from the report’s analysis of how a child care provider’s annual pay compares to their school-based counterparts.

Recent data from the Department of Education showed that child care teachers make approximately $20,000 annually, which is less than half of a school-based childcare provider. This salary is less than the federal poverty level for a family of three, according to 2020 statistics, and an approximate 27% of child care teachers reported that they actively work a second job in addition to providing child care.

Dr. Cynthia DiCarlo is both a professor of Early Childhood Education at Louisiana State University and the executive director of the LSU Early Childhood Education Laboratory Preschool. Dr. DiCarlo commented on the wage disparity that the LDOE’s presented report in saying, “teachers working in early care and education are still paid less than their service-industry counterparts. Until we decide as a state to pay teachers at par with other job opportunities, we will not move forward with quality early childhood care and education in Louisiana.”

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LDOE Releases Guidance for Improving Special Education Outcomes

In an effort to support school systems in improving outcomes for Special Education Programs, the Louisiana Department of Education has released its second guidance document in an ongoing series, as per a Louisiana Believes news release.  The LDOE has already released its first issue of what its calling “Guidance for Leading Inclusive Special Education Programs” in January, and they’ve recently released a second set of supportive documents with five more slated to come later in 2022.

Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, Dr. Jenna Chiasson, commented on the important need for such guidance from the Louisiana Department of Education, saying “now, more than ever, school systems are facing unprecedented challenges in meeting the emerging needs of students with disabilities. These guidance documents provide school systems with practical and timely resources to work cross-departmentally to improve outcomes for students with disabilities.”

Earlier this year in January 2022, the LDOE had released its first issue in the series: “Leveraging Data to Align Budgets and Spending to Priorities.”  The purpose of the issued guidance was to answer the question, “how do school systems create a spending plan to support the programming needs of students with disabilities?” As educators were encouraged to refer to the document, they were asked to take a self-assessment that aimed to support school system leaders wanting to identify areas to strengthen planning structures and processes when aligning budgets and spending to priorities.

Then, in February 2022, the LDOE released its second issue in the support series: “Creating Compliant Systems for Student Success.” This document and accompanying webinar set out to answer the guiding question of “How can school systems develop and maintain compliant systems that improve student outcomes?”

The guidance issued wanted to address the structures created by school systems that achieve compliance but at the cost of student outcomes, causing the individualized needs of the student with disabilities to be ignored in the name of system-wide efficiency. What was suggested what that school systems leaders rethink special education by examining these existing systems “that limit opportunities for children with disabilities; practices that put the needs of ‘the system’ over the individual needs of a child; and policies that, no matter how well-intentioned, do not have the impact of improving outcomes for students.”

These guiding documents are being issued by the Louisiana Department of Education in an ongoing effort to navigate the unique and complex challenges associated with improving the outcomes for students with disabilities. The series, which is slated to continue through at least June 2022, will support school systems in improving special education programming by leveraging best-practices cross-departmentally. By tackling systemic areas of improvement at the root of the cause, school systems and individual schools can collaborate on these improved practices across disciplines and departments for the betterment of the student with disabilities. This has already been seen with January’s Guidance for aligning both spending priorities and budgets in the effort of improving student outcomes.

LDOE adapted content for “Guidance for Leading Inclusive Special Education Programs” from a comprehensive developmental program aimed at novice special education leaders called SPED Fellow Academy as well as a partnership with a diverse group of special education leaders from across Louisiana, who serve as advisors.

Dr. Shayla Guidry Hilaire, Chief Student and School Support Officer for New Orleans Public Schools commented on being a part of the advising leaders in saying “it is an honor to be a part of a project that starts with equity as the foundation for the work that we do as special education leaders. The LDOE listened to the needs of special education leaders and created ongoing support that addresses those needs in an authentic way. Our special education community has experienced many challenges during the pandemic and these guidance materials and webinars provide hope during a time when educators are in need of ongoing support to improve outcomes for our most vulnerable learners.”

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