25 years ago
After nine months of intensive work by a special committee to formulate a strategic plan for St. Tammany Parish schools, the School Board adopted the blueprint last week.
The plan outlines the systems strategy to ensure that students learn the basic skills, retain and recruit quality teachers, provide and effectively use technology in the classroom, address and relieve classroom overcrowding and maintain a productive learning environment.
While the plan was unanimously adopted, one board member did find a deficiency.
“It provides little in the way of recruiting and maintaining quality minority students,” said Ray Alfred, who represents the Bayou Liberty area near Slidell.
Alfred said the system needs to do something to attract high quality minority teachers, and it should be the system's top priority. Assistant Superintendent Gayle Sloan said the school system would address Alfred's concern as a matter that needed further study.
Board President John Lamarque agreed that Alfred's concern should be a top priority, but said he thought disruptive students in the classroom was a more serious problem to be addressed. Alfred agreed, but said addressing his problem could go a long way to solving the disruptive student problem.
“When you look at the number of minority students with discipline problems, minority teachers would really help with that,” Alfred said.
Alfred managed to convince other board members of the need for minority teachers. The board voted 8-6 to pinpoint recruitment of quality minority teachers as the top priority for modifying the strategic plan.
The plan was named “Reaching Even Higher” and was drawn up by a committee composed of teachers, parents, school administrators, and business and community leaders.
50 years ago
When you open the door to Champagne’s Grocery, 427 Columbia St. in Covington, you're in a delightful world of yesteryear.
The sights, the smells, the arrangements of stock are reminders of those days before supermarkets. They are reminders of days when everybody knew their grocer personally, trusted him, depended upon him, called him friend.
Champagne’s may be the very last of the “Paw-n-Maw” grocery stores hereabouts. Robert A. Champagne and his wife, Mrs. Mildred McLain Champagne, run the store together. They have no other help.
And it may well be the only grocery in the area that still delivers. Champagne delivers once daily, the orders coming in by telephone. Many of those customers are elderly people or have no means of transportation. The proprietor delivers himself, and frequently is called upon like a good neighbor to help with varied and assorted household chores which he performs graciously.
Not only that but when a customer needs a non-grocery item, Champagne takes the time to go to another supplier to get it, merely as an accommodation.
It's all in the game … as played by a couple who know and love people.
75 years ago
The Police Jury, at its last meeting, passed a resolution that empowered its president, B.T. Carroll of Slidell, to sign the necessary agreements to facilitate the purchase of the St. Tammany Parish Fairgrounds in the hands of the public by virtue of the ownership of the Police Jury.
This project has been worked on long and hard by several citizens and attorneys in an effort to provide a legal way for the Police Jury to acquire the property for many owners who are merely stockholders in a defunct corporation.
The stockholders, those that could be identified, were written letters and requested to sign their stock over to the Police Jury. After a majority of the stockholders had signed the agreements, technical legal requirements must be met before the transfer of the title property.
There are plans to use the property for several civic purposes, including a possible revival of the (St. Tammany Parish) Fair. The National Guard will be allowed certain areas for their buildings and parade grounds.
100 years ago
Seventeen magnificent motor cruisers of the Southern Yacht Club fleet participated in the initial long distance race from West End to Mandeville, a distance of 22 miles, on last Saturday afternoon.
Ralston S. Coles’ “Winnetka II” was the first cruiser to sail past the finish line having made the trip in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 41 seconds. Scores of St. Tammany residents gathered on the big pier to witness the finish of the handicap event.
125 years ago
We’ve learned that cattle and horses are dying very rapidly on the west side of Bayou Lacombe from some mysterious disease, or possibly from eating some variety of poisonous grass that thrives during dry weather.
