The Lafayette Education Foundation, along with United Way of Acadiana and Love Our Schools, honored Lafayette Parish teachers at the 2021 LEF Teacher Awards Tuesday night.
This year's awards were broadcast virtually on Facebook because of ever-changing COVID-19 guidelines.
LEF has hosted its annual Teacher Awards honoring outstanding PreK-12 educators in the parish since 1999. The awards consist of three categories in which finalists are chosen from the Elementary, Middle, and High School categories. Previously, a fourth category - Inspirational - has been awarded, but organizers chose to use that space to celebrate a few others in the community who helped make the 2020-2021 school year a success.
Educators are nominated by students, parents, fellow educators, and members of the community prior to the event.
Below is a list of this year's winners:
- Leslie Gossen at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School - LEF Elementary School Teacher Award
- Nicole Hebert at Youngsville Middle School - LEF Middle School Teacher Award
- Marquise Newsome at David Thibodaux STEM Academy - LEF High School Teacher Award
Hebert said the award is special to her, especially having won it during a difficult year for everyone, including educators.
"Not getting to see our kids everyday. Having to jump through hoops, more than normal for teachers. This award just means that I actually went that extra step and did more for my kids than, not any more than what I normally do, but it was still more and it meant more to them," she said.
Three LPSS Teachers of the Year were also recognized during the awards.
- Ericka Cornay at Cpl. Michael Middlebrook Elementary School
- Charity Turpeau at Acadian Middle School
- Kara Rutherford at Lafayette High School
You can watch the 2021 LEF Teacher Awards below:
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