TPSB names top teachers, principals of the year

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The Terrebonne Parish School Board honored three teachers and three principals for making a difference in the classroom and improving students’ lives at a ceremony last week.


Megan Doiron from Acadian Elementary, Amy LeCompte from Montegut Middle and Darlene Hoob from Terrebonne High were named 2013 Teachers of the Year.

“I feel extremely honored and very blessed,” said Doiron, who has spent her six-year teaching career at Acadian Elementary.

Known for being as energetic as possible, Doiron also strives to adjust her lessons and continuously think of ways to keep her students involved.


“Week by week, day by day, minute by minute things change,” she said. “You have to do something different every day to capture their imaginations and attention.”

Amy LeCompte has been teaching in Terrebonne Parish for 15 years, and currently teaches eighth-grade science.

“I’m excited and this is a reflection of my students and their hard work, which makes my job so much easier,” LeCompte said.


By focusing her instruction on individualized, student-centered learning with more hands on activities, LeCompte said she has seen her student’s potential grow.

Darlene Hoob has taught English at Terrebonne High for the past 18 years, and thanked her fellow teachers for the Teacher of the Year honor.

Hoob said her main focus in her job has been to progress students to the next level and beyond.


“I try to think of what they’re interested in and connect reading to what they like,” Hoob said. “I really like the challenge of taking students who don’t think they can get to that next level, and then pushing them and advancing them past where they think they can go.”

Assistant Superintendent Carol Davis said, “I think the biggest honor you can receive as a teacher is to have your peers and leadership recognize you for your craft, and that craft is teaching students and having a positive impact on their lives.”

Also honored as principals of the year were Dr. Myra Austin from Acadian Elementary, Melanie Wallis from Elysian Fields Middle and Julio Contreras from Terrebonne High.


Austin has been in education for 23 years with her last four spent as principal at Acadian Elementary.

“It’s a very overwhelming and unexpected honor,” she said. “I think whenever we work with kids in any capacity, especially on an academic level, that it’s not an individual accomplishment but a team accomplishment.”

Austin said her experience in the classroom ranges from elementary to high school classes, and she acknowledged the staff at Acadian for working well as a team.


Wallis, a former student at Elysian Fields Middle, has been principal at the school for the past three years.

“It’s an honor and I hope I live up to the award,” said Wallis, who has 13 years of education experience in the parish.

“The students are always changing for the better,” she said. “With the new curriculum, students are taking a lot of ownership with what they’re learning.”


Contreras began teaching at Terrebonne High in 1999, and is in his first year as principal at the school.

“It’s an honor and a humbling experience,” Contreras said. “It motivates me to keep doing better things for our school and improve our school performance. We owe it to our children in the community that they get the best possible quality of education.”

Superintendent Philip Martin acknowledged all educators at the ceremony for their hard work in and out of the classroom.


“The impact you make is not on one child’s life, or two children, but it is literally on hundreds,” he said.

TPSB principals of the yearCHANNING PARFAIT | TRI-PARISH TIMES