Hilda Voisin Buquet
August 25, 2009
Mary Little McFarland
August 27, 2009
In her 40 years as a West Park Elementary School teacher, Sue Pertuis has helped to mold thousands of Houma youths into vibrant learners. She is at a point where she is instructing the children and grandchildren of her former students.
“It’s amazing to think that I have taught multiple generations of a family,” she said.
For her dedication to public education, the Terrebonne Foundation For Academic Excellence (TFAE) bestowed on Pertuis its Inspirational Teacher of the Year Award at Thursday’s 10th annual Academic Excellence Teacher Awards at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center.
“It’s quite an honor. I kept saying that I wasn’t going to win so I wouldn’t have to worry about a speech,” she said.
“This moment is not just about me,” she added. “It is about all educators, as we work as team members to ensure that every child in our school system is given the opportunities to be the best person they can be.”
Pertuis taught kindergarten for 28 years and has been the first grade reading recovery teacher for the past 12 years.
She said the key to being a good teacher and reaching her students is instilling in them good decision-making skills.
“She’s the best,” said West Park Elementary master teacher Jackie Lombard. “Grown men have written her letters and have come to the school to surprise Mrs. Sue. It’s beautiful.”
Pertuis always knew she wanted to work with children but she started out training to become a nurse. The death of her grandfather made her realize she couldn’t handle that aspect of the job, so she became a teacher.
“That has been awesome because I get to help children physically, emotionally and give them a love for learning,” Pertuis said.
After graduating from Northwestern State University in January 1969, the St. Amant native found her way to the Terrebonne Parish School District.
“Jobs were very slim at that time. This was one of the parishes that came to the school for a job fair and I needed a job,” she said.
Pertuis considered retirement last year but couldn’t because she loved teaching too much. She doesn’t plan to leave anytime soon.
“I’m taking it year by year,” she said.
“We won’t let her,” Lombard replied.
Terrebonne Parish Library System Director Mary Cosper LeBoeuf was presented the James J. Buquet Jr. Award of Distinction.
The award, named for the Buquet Distributing Co. founder, is given to a parish public high school graduate recognized for vision and excellence in a chosen field.
“It is such an honor. I was in complete shock having known and respected Mr. Jimmy,” LeBoeuf said. “I got to know him and his children because he was an early advocate for building the new main library.”
LeBoeuf, a 1980 Terrebonne High graduate, and her husband David, a 1979 South Terrebonne High graduate, are committed public education advocates.
They strongly believe if teachers have the right encouragement, supplies and materials, they can produce great students.
“We want to see teachers have the right materials for science projects and art projects so they can really develop our kids’ brains,” she said.
The awards ceremony also honored the school system’s teachers of the year – Southdown Elementary composition teacher Kathleen Abboud, Montegut Middle fifth grade science teacher Jennifer Pitre and South Terrebonne physics and physical science teacher Nathan Cotten.
TFAE executive director Yolanda Trahan said she could not have imagined the foundation’s growth and longevity when she began in 1999.
“To see what the community has done in support of public education, that is what truly motivates me to do what I do,” she said.
TFAE awarded 22 teacher grants valued at $21,546 and eight School Impact Grants totaling $79,129 at the ceremony.
The grants are funded through income earned from TFAE’s endowment fund and matched with monies from the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The foundation has given out nearly $730,000 in grants since its inception.
According to Trahan and local BESE representative Glenny Lee Buquet, the evening was about giving the public an opportunity to show local public school teachers gratitude for their hard work and sacrifice.
“They are just an unbelievable group of individuals. You see their passion and it does spill over into their classrooms,” Trahan said. “I’ve gone annually to see our grants in action in the classroom and when you see the excitement on the students’ faces, you can’t help but say ‘Thank you’ to that teacher for what he or she is doing to motivate that level of education.”
“Teaching can be a very lonely job. They go to work and see their students, but they don’t see the public,” Buquet said. “They don’t realize how much parents and the whole community appreciate everything they do.”
“We know it’s a tough job, but we don’t often have an opportunity to say, ‘Thank you,'” she added. “To see a huge crowd like this, standing and applauding them means a lot to every teacher.”
Terrebonne Foundation for Academic Excellence Executive Director Yolanda Trahan (left) presents the Inspiration Teacher of the Year Award to Sue Pertuis, who has taught at West Park Elementary in Houma for 40 years. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF
