New Orleans’ teachers, coaches, paraprofessionals, principals, and support staff have led our children to enormous academic growth. That’s incredibly important—but it’s only one part of what they do. Our educators show up for their students. They are at plays, football games, and parades. They get to know entire families, teaching a student and then their siblings and cousins in the years that follow. They understand their students’ dreams, fears and challenges. They do whatever they can to meet those students’ needs.  

NSNO has been proud to capture the complex and powerful work of our teachers on our blog over the years. Today, we share a few of our favorite pieces about amazing educators. 

“As a native New Orleanian and a former NOLA public school student, this assignment is personal. All students deserve a rich, rigorous, quality education that will help shape them to face the challenges of a changing world.” 

“At Coghill, many parents in the neighborhood whose children attend the school also attended the school. In some instances, even the students’ grandparents attended the Coghill when they were in elementary school. The Gentilly/Pontchartrain Park community is a place where they really love and deeply care about each other. Hynes-Coghill at Parkview will continue to be a true community school.”

 “I thought, maybe I can go back home and…really give back to my community. So that brought me back to New Orleans back to teaching….When I have candidates coming in for an interview, they’re blown away by how diverse our leadership staff is, and how many women of color are in leadership positions.”

“Are the chairs there? Is the desk clean? Is everything appropriately sized—is a kid reaching too high up to write or is the desk too tiny and crushing their legs? Every year, we make whatever minor adjustments we need, and at the end of the day, when things are defective and old, we don’t keep relics of deterioration…my attempt is to send a signal to them that we care about the environment around them….

There are a lot of factors that contribute to why students have trouble learning…so any facet of the day, that could potentially disrupt that positive experience? My focus is on getting it fixed.” 

Williams attended New Orleans Charter Middle, (NOCM) which was founded by Jay Altman and led by Dr. Tony Recasner. Though NOCM was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, Recasner and Altman went on to found FirstLine Schools. On the right, Williams poses with Atlman and Recanse again, now in his role working at Firstline. 

“Mr. Harris was my official coach, but he was an informal coach to everyone. If you needed lesson plan support, he was there. When students were struggling in class, we called Mr. Harris. He would either sit down next to the student or pull them outside to provide that quick pep talk to get them back on track. Struggling with hallway transitions? Call Harris. Can’t get in contact with a family member? Call Harris. He handled it all with grace and understanding.

He somehow had a stake in everyone’s personal life, too. Your car broke down? Call Harris. Credit card fraud? Call Harris. Date night ideas? Parenting advice? Call Harris. The list goes on.” – Daniel Meekins writing about his former coach and colleague, Walter Harris“

Many people may say Robert was strong willed about his belief in children, and he never backed down. But he also never stopped showing care for others. He had a heart of gold, and he treated everyone he met with the utmost respect. Whether or not you agreed with him, after having a conversation with him, or even being in his presence listening to him, you learned something.” – Nicole Saulny writing about longtime friend and colleague, Robert Bell