Anthony Ealy Sr. is easy to spot.

I notice him every time we both attend St. John the Baptist Parish School Board meetings.

By his own estimation, Ealy is 6’8” and 300 pounds. As a St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy, his presence in uniform at the back of the room is all that’s needed to keep the peace at School Board meetings.

However, to judge Ealy by his size does the man and his mission a disservice. His compassion for children, especially troubled youth, is easy to recognize.

He wears his heart on his sleeve each day as a resource officer at St. John Alternative School.

He’s stern, but cares deeply for students many in society feel have little chance for a positive future.

School Board President Keith Jones brought up Ealy’s passion at a previous School Board meeting and took time to explain it in greater detail this week with me.

Jones said he was on the Leon Godchaux campus recently to see how East St. John Elementary School students were performing because a fire at their usual location displaced them to Godchaux.

After seeing those students, Jones visited the Alternative School, which operates near by.

He sat in on an expulsion meeting with the principal, parents, students and others, including Ealy.

“Anybody’s normal reaction would be to look at this guy’s size,” Jones said. “However, if you just sit down and talk to him for five or ten minutes, you can feel it. You see the compassion this guy has for the kids.

“He had sternness with the kids; however, he also showed a level of compassion. That is what captured my attention. It’s weird to see a resource officer have that type of compassion, and he was like that consistently with the kids. It was a feeling that stuck with me.”

Ealy, who lives in LaPlace, applied to work in the school system, specifically asking for assignment at the Alternative School.

He got his wish this school year and is happier now than before because of the efforts led by the school’s administration to work passionately for the students.

“These are the at-risk kids that some say will never be successful, will never be able to be productive citizens,” Ealy said. “That, in itself, is a challenge for me because of my love of kids.

“You have to have the three Ps — passion, persistence and patience — to deal with the kids. A lot of these kids, when they know somebody cares about them, loves them, it gives them the incentive to push forward.”

Ealy uses his own upbringing as personal motivation and as an example for the younger generation.

As a self-described former “troubled youth,” Ealy also works with the youth ministry of Greater New Plymouth Rock Baptist in Reserve in an effort to connect with children from tough backgrounds.

He is familiar with the street code that governs children: when they see a police officer, they automatically associate it with trouble.

He says many students at the Alternative School are beginning to see him for the man he is behind the badge.

“Most of the kids (at school) are from the ages of 10 to 19; that’s more of where our problems are in the streets,” Ealy said. “I feel like if I can catch them here, we won’t have to deal with them in the street, where there is all this gang violence and stuff like that. If I can snatch some of them out of the fire now, then they won’t have to deal with prison or death later on in life.”

Ealy and the rest of the staff members who seek out employment at St. John Alternative School offer some of our most disadvantaged students another chance (maybe their last) at a successful future. They care where others don’t. They work where others won’t; yet, we’re all rewarded for every student they save.

Stephen Hemelt is publisher and editor of L’OBSERVATEUR. He can be reached at 985-652-9545 or stephen.hemelt@lobservateur.com.