Lutcher’s Bourgeois is state’s top junior high teacher

Published 12:00 am Saturday, March 4, 2000

DANIEL TYLER GOODEN / L’Observateur / March 4, 2000

LUTCHER – “I want you to move your chairs into groups by the count of five,” said Pam Bourgeois, a seventh-grade science teacher at Lutcher Junior High.

Bourgeois stands with the air of a commander, fingers counting up to five.

The children obediently swing their desks about and form small groups for the day’s activity. With her students settled the way she wants them,Bourgeois relaxes her authoritative stance and moves to help each student with whatever they may need.

That’s the type of learning that recently helped Bourgeois be selected Louisiana’s Junior High Teacher of the Year after competing at the parish and regional levels.

Born and raised in Paulina, Bourgeois attended to Southeastern Louisiana University where she received a bachelor’s degree in teaching and a master’s degree in administration. She now lives in Grand Point with her husband Toddand her three children, Donavan, Kyrie and Briley.

She said teaching is “always what I wanted to do. I didn’t have a choice.” Shehas many fond memories of the job she loves. One year, while hosting first-and second-graders, her class demonstrated basic science experiments.

“There was one girl, about average in class, who just blew everyone away.

She loved working with the kids and she just did so well. I got to see her in awhole new light,” said Bourgeois, smiling.

She also enjoys seeing her students outside of class. The idea of theirteacher outside of school is not quite a reality for them.

“I’ll be at a baseball game in shorts and such, and the kids will come up and say, ‘Ms. Pam, is that you?,” said Bourgeois.When she began, Bourgeois was instructed to begin a preschool program.

“I didn’t know what they wanted, so I created it. That’s the kind of thing thatI like, that drives me on, big challenges,” she said.

She really enjoyed working with the smaller children.

“I liked the little bitties. I thought they were it,” she said.Now, after teaching in the other grades, she has decided she has no preference for a grade or a subject.

“I just like the kids,” Bourgeois said.

She does enjoy teaching science, though. After disliking it in college, now shehas “lots of fun, dissecting worms and pigs and such.” She enjoys science somuch she’s been continuing her education, working toward a special degree in science.

Bourgeois is also the coordinator of the St. James Parish Science Fair. Sheenjoys getting the students to participate in the fair. With students workingin teams they tend to understand the lessons better, she said.

Lutcher Junior High has had students taking their science projects to the state level every year since Bourgeois has been teaching there.

“The number of students going to the state level has been increasing every year,” she said.

Outside of being the parish’s science fair coordinator, Bourgeois is also involved in many other outside projects and programs, so many that she modestly summed it up as, “I’m pretty busy.”On the local level she’s on the 504 committee, which deals with the physical disabilities of parish students. She is also an electorate at her church, St.Joseph in Paulina. On the state level she’s an elected official in the Beta Club.Every year the club has a national conference.

“Thirteen thousand junior high kids show up. The dance is not for the weakhearted,” said Bourgeois.

All this activity and devotion to her students is why she was honored by the state.

“The parish interview was not bad; I knew everybody,” she said. “The stateinterview was pretty nerve-racking.”The honor comes with a small cash prize and attention from across the state. All teachers of the year are supposed to be invited to the stateDepartment of Education to participate in a forum. They will have the chanceto discuss problem and solutions from the insight of working teachers.

“That’s why I’m excited about this award, not all this other stuff,” said Bourgeois.

Among the advice she wishes to give is tips on parents helping their children.

The majority of parents in the parish are helping their kids at home, but she said, “be involved in the school, not just the child.”In proven studies, she said, parents who take an interest in the school and its activities often have children who do better in school.

“In junior high parents think it is time to cut the apron strings. This is notthe case, they need to see that their parents think that what they are doing is important,” said Bourgeois.

LJH Assistant Principal Herbert Jackson seems to trust Bourgeois’ advice and is proud of her and her award.

“She is very involved in taking interest in the overall development of a child,” he said. “She’s very energetic, and you can always count on her. She’sbasically a super person to have on staff and a tremendous asset to any administration.”

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