Kylie Altier, of McKinley Elementary School, has received a grant from the Academic Distinction Fund for her new reading initiative, “Read with Kylie.” The free initiative includes physical kits for students to check out and a website where parents can teach their children the foundational skills of reading. Altier, the 2024 Louisiana Teacher of the Year, walks through every step of a 20-minute low-prep, high-impact nightly home routine that has helped her succeed in her classroom for 11 years and with her own 4-year-old!

The inaugural East Baton Rouge Parish School System’s Athletic Hall of Fame class is a remarkable group of individuals that sets a high standard for future inductions.

Eight greats — Harvey Adger, Seimone Augustus, Billy Cannon, Bob Pettit, Eddie Robinson, Danielle Scott-Arubba, Ryan Theriot and Doug Williams — were inducted during a special ceremony on May 8 at the Capitol Park Museum.

“The Class of 2024 inductees, you have set the bar very high for the next generations,” said EBR Schools interim Superintendent Adam Smith. “And I want to thank you for all the contributions that you have made, not just on the academic side, because we know that most of our athletes are also great scholars academically.”

“It’s exciting to know that these people came straight from the schools of East Baton Rouge Parish, and that says a lot,” said Sean Joffrion, director of health/physical education and athletics.

Inductees received an award and a signature blue jacket. Joffrion said he plans to have a wall at the Central Office with plaques of the inductees for visitors.

Special thanks to Joffrion, health/physical education supervisors Donnell Hyde, Clarissa Johnson, Lester Ricard and Dr. Greg Thompson, and athletic administrative assistant Kimber Courville.

The East Baton Rouge School System Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2024:

HARVEY ADGER: The longtime Glen Oaks High School boys basketball coach has 932 career victories. Adger has exemplified dedication, leadership and excellence throughout his more than 40 years coaching in EBR Schools. The Shreveport native excelled academically and athletically in basketball and golf at Southern University.

SEIMONE AUGUSTUS: The former Capitol High and LSU basketball star was also named to the Naismith Hall of Fame. She was a two-American at LSU and led the Lady Tigers to three consecutive Final Four appearances while also winning the Naismith College Player of the Year and Wooden Awards. In 2006, she was the WNBA’s No. 1 overall pick by Minnesota, leading the Lynx to four WNBA championships.

BILLY CANNON: A multisport standout in football, basketball and track at Istrouma High School in the mid-1950s, Cannon took his talents to the football field at LSU and eventually the NFL. He was a two-time unanimous All-American at LSU, leading the Tigers to the national championship in 1958. In 1959, he became the school’s first Heisman Trophy, highlighted by an 89-yard punt return in a 7-3 win over Ole Miss on Halloween night in Tiger Stadium.

BOB PETTIT: After a standout state championship basketball career at Baton Rouge High, Pettit went on to star at LSU and then enjoyed a Hall of Fame NBA career. Pettit is renowned for his time with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks from 1954-1965, where he made history by becoming the first player to surpass 20,000 career points.

EDDIE ROBINSON SR.: The 1937 McKinley High School graduate and legendary Grambling State University coach won 408 victories during a stellar 57-year college coaching career. His Grambling teams won 17 SWAC championships. In 1984, Robinson surpassed Amos Alonzo Stagg and Bear Bryant to become college football’s winningest coach. He earned a bachelor’s from Leland College in Baker and a master’s from Iowa.

DANIELLE SCOTT-ARRUDA: At Woodlawn High, Scott-Arruda displayed her talents in volleyball, basketball, softball and track and field. After starring at the University of California-Long Beach, she joined the USA National Volleyball Team, participated in the Olympics in Atlanta and played professionally in Italy, Brazil, Japan, and more. She is the only indoor player, male or female, to compete in five Olympic Games.

RYAN THERIOT: After earning all-state honors for three years at Broadmoor High, Theriot continued his baseball journey at LSU and enjoyed 12 seasons in the Major Leagues. He won a national championship at LSU in 2000. Theriot won World Series titles with St. Louis in 2011 and the San Francisco Giants in 2012.

DOUG WILLIAMS: Excelling in football and basketball at the former Chaneyville High, Williams signed to play quarterback for Eddie Robinson and Grambling. Following a stellar career at Grambling, Williams was the first Black quarterback to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 1998, Williams led Washington to 42-10 win over Denver in Super Bowl XXII, setting NFL records that included most passing yards and most touchdowns.

Congratulations to the JROTC programs at Belaire, Broadmoor, Scotlandville and Woodlawn high schools for passing their accreditation inspections with scores of 98% to 100%. The U.S. Army Cadet Command recently conducted the inspections and evaluated the cadets on various aspects such as community service, drill performance, and Color Guard performance.

Retired Col. Fulton Johnson, director of Army JROTC Instruction for EBR Schools, said all of the schools and cadets performed exceptionally well. He said cadets clearly demonstrated great pride in their school, and school senior administrators were completely vested in their JROTC programs.

Congratulations to Istrouma High School’s Patricia Cooke, who was named the 2024 Louisiana ProStart Educator of Excellence. “Being voted Teacher of the Year by my peers here at Istrouma for this school year and then to be selected as ProStart Educator of Excellence by the Louisiana Restaurant Association makes me proud — lets me know that my labor is not in vain,” said Cooke, who is a family and consumer science teacher, ProStart instructor and mentor at Istrouma High. “I actually just love what I do, although teaching was not my first career choice, but I am glad that it has been my most fulfilling career choice.”

Cooke has been an EBR Schools educator for 26 years, including 21 at Istrouma.

Cooke enjoys preparing students for real-life experiences in the hospitality, restaurant and tourism industries. “I guess I can say that my classes develop the whole child to be productive, critical thinking, problem-solvers in the restaurant and hospitality industry. Students who complete my program are given scholarship opportunities and hospitality and culinary college course credits at many of the universities and culinary arts schools around the country,” Cooke said.

Congratulations to DECA for the School-based enterprise at BRMHS

This information provided by DECA.

Baton Rouge, LA – Bulldog Bites, the school-based enterprise at Baton Rouge Magnet High School was among 728 school-based enterprises achieving gold-level certification for the 2023-2024 school year and will be recognized during DECA’s International Career Development Conference this April 27-30, 2024, in Anaheim, California.

A school-based enterprise (SBE) is an entrepreneurial operation in a school setting that provides goods and services to meet the needs of the market. SBEs are managed and operated by students as hands-on learning laboratories that integrate National Curriculum Standards in marketing, finance, hospitality and management. DECA advisors have utilized this effective educational tool for over four decades to provide their students with realistic and practical learning experiences that reinforce classroom instruction, enhance 21st Century skill development, and prepare students for college and careers.

The Baton Rouge Magnet High School DECA members who contributed to the certification were Katia Fuentes, Ashley Lambie, Nicolas Nguyen, Mary Case, Madison Vu, Lilah Weisberger and Dristi Thaker with the assistance of their DECA chapter advisor, Marcia Lee. The SBE at Baton Rouge Magnet High School has operated for six years and is to be commended for this achievement.

“DECA’s School-based Enterprise Certification Program is a rigorous process designed to help DECA members demonstrate their classroom learning in a practical, learning laboratory, and then translate that into meaningful outcomes,” said Christopher Young, CAE, Chief Program Officer at DECA Inc. “These DECA members are practicing important workplace readiness skills while preparing for college and careers.”

DECA’s School-based Enterprise Certification Program provides recognition for outstanding achievement by school-based enterprises and motivates SBEs to strive for excellence and growth. SBEs can be certified at three levels: bronze, silver or gold. In order to apply for the certification, SBEs must submit extensive documentation that explains how the SBE demonstrates the practice of various marketing and retail standards. A review committee evaluates the documentation to determine which level of certification has been achieved. DECA’s School-based Enterprise program is sponsored by Otis Spunkmeyer Inc. and Pop Chips/You Need This.

About DECA Inc.
DECA is a career and technical student organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs with a career interest in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. DECA enhances the preparation for college and careers by providing co-curricular programs that integrate into classroom instruction, apply learning, connect to business and promote competition. DECA student members leverage their DECA experience to become academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible, experienced leaders. DECA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with nearly 250,000 members in 4,000 high school and college chapters in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Germany.

For more information about DECA, visit www.deca.org.

Students of the Year 2023 – 2024

December 8, 2023

Congratulations to Brennan Smith (Westdale Heights Academic Magnet), Madilyn Whitmore (Westdale Middle School) and Noor Akram (Woodlawn High School) for being named the EBR Schools Students of the Year for 2023-24.