Baja St. Martin

The spillway water level remains high. It doesn’t appear to have gone up much, but it hasn’t fallen either. The rain and strong south winds have been keeping things pretty steady. Several fishermen told me the water in the river was falling, but I think that was before the rain last week.
I’ve also heard the price was $1.50 a pound to the fishermen before Easter. It is now down to $1. Awfully hard for a fisherman to make any profit when he has to pay high prices for bait and gas.
Lots of school news this week. Mrs. Patty Orgeron is Stephensville Elementary’s Teacher of the Year. Ms. Orgeron works with teachers around the parish in reading and math instruction. Althea Blanchard has been elected Outstanding Support Person of the Year by the faculty and staff. According to Principal Staton, Althea will do whatever she is asked if humanly possible.
Third through eighth graders will be taking the English language arts, math and science tests the last week of April – the 25th through the 29th. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday they will take an ELA and math test each day. On Thursday of that week they will take a science test and Friday is for makeup tests. Good luck everyone.
Principal Staton urges everyone to continue collecting the Community coffee coupons and the Box Tops for Education. These are redeemed for things the school needs like office supplies, paper, the tons of consumable items a school has to have.
The week of April 18-22 has been proclaimed Attendance Awareness Week and during this week the school will be doing lots of things to encourage attendance during state testing the following week. The theme for that week is “Teach Content – Teach Behavior – Teach Success” by encouraging daily school attendance.
Green is the color chosen for perfect attendance. An attendance pledge will be stressed during this week. Its features are:
•Attend school everyday;
•Go to class on time;
•Keep grades up;
•Become a productive citizen;
•Get the help needed to stay in school;
•Graduate and keep moving forward.
Please know that there will be an election on April 9 for the renewal of capital improvements taxes. Two of the propositions on the ballot are for the schools. The third proposition is a $1,000,000 bond for the recreation department.
Know that $700,000 of this bond will be for projects at the Belle River recreation site like finishing the walking trail and extending the parking lot to mention a few. Whatever you feel about these propositions, do get out and vote.
Last but definitely not least, here are the results of the Parish wide Fine Arts Fair for Stephensville Elementary:
Second place winners for third graders in Choral reading are Gabby Grizzaffi, Audrey Cheramie, Bree Mitchell, Gabriel Galloway, Jaih Lara, and Cecilia Murrin.
First place winner in the 4th-6th grade level in Story Telling is Grant Torgrimson.
First place in the 4th-6th grade level in French Story Telling is Tallulah Grivet.
Second place in the 4th-6th grade level in the French Spelling Bee is Maycee LeBlanc.
Ethan Vickrey won 1st place in the 7th-8th grade French Spelling Bee.
Congratulations to all these students who worked so hard to prepare for their competitions. We’re all proud of you.
I wish I'd had the opportunity to hear some of these competitions. Once I heard a BETA student give a speech and I was stunned by the professional demeanor of the student. I know these Stephensville kids were every bit as terrific. I wonder if they could deliver their presentations to their fellow students right here at the school? I’ll have to ask.

Teche News’ Lower St. Martin correspondent, Linda Cooke, can be e-mailed at lindacooke1939@gmail.com.