Esma Orgeron
July 2, 2007
NSU business college dean elected to state CPA board
July 4, 2007
When other students were complaining about headaches and other ailments, six graduates from the Tri-parish area were heading to school, sick or not.
“I went to school with many headaches, upset stomachs, sore throats and every other ailment you can think of,” said 18-year-old Thibodaux High School graduate Elizabeth Ann Richard.
The days that Richard missed were all school-related.
She spent a week in Washington, D.C., with the Close-Up program. And as a member of the BETA club, student council, the National Honor Society and the Distinguished Service group, there were various activities off campus.
Richard, the daughter of Thibodaux’s Walter and Susie Bourgeois, has two older brothers who, unlike her, missed a few days of their educational careers.
“My parents didn’t make me go to school. They supported my decision,” she said.
Unfortunately, Steve Anthony Morgan Jr., 18, can’t say the same.
Throughout his elementary years, his mother would make him go to school, no matter what.
By high school, perfect attendance was a routine, he said.
Morgan is a graduate of H.L. Bourgeois High School. He is the son of Steve Sr. and Faye Morgan.
“I can remember one day when I was in the third grade and I felt really bad. It was the only time that year I felt bad, and (my mom) made me go to school anyway,” he said.
Like his perfect-attendance counterparts, Morgan only missed days for school-related activities. He was a member of the football team, National Honor Society, BETA and Math clubs and participated in a number of other extracurricular activities at H.L. Bourgeois.
And like Richard’s siblings, Morgan’s sister Cecily will not follow in his footsteps. She has already missed a few days of school because of a medical issue, he said.
Ellender Memorial High School’s honoree Brittany Solet, said, “I really never got sick enough to miss school.”
The 18-year-old is the daughter of Melissa Williams and Dave Solet.
“My parents never had to push me to go to school. I would just take some medicine before I left home and I would be fine for the rest of the day,” she said.
Solet missed school for band, track and student council events only.
Other Tri-parish students recognized for their perfect attendance throughout their 12 years in public schools include South Lafourche’s Kristina Verdin, Ellender’s Joshua Falgout and H.L. Bourgeois’ Anthony Street.
The Louisiana Department of Education and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education honored the six graduates – along with 14 other statewide graduates – with a certificate, a $50 savings bond and a goody bag supplied by Entergy.
Entergy also sponsored a breakfast for the honorees and their parents prior to the ceremony.
