Supt. Lazard and Chamber President Strawitz speak on parish unity

The notion of bringing Evangeline Parish to a united front took center stage at Tuesday’s Evangeline Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet and Awards Ceremony.
The idea of “One Evangeline,” according to guest speaker Superintendant of Schools Darwan Lazard, is the theme of the school district in Evangeline Parish.
“I believe what is good for the school system will be good for the entire parish of Evangeline,” Superintendant Lazard said during his remarks as the event’s guest speaker. “Together we can; together we will.”
Superintendant Lazard continued, “All of the schools are pulling together and working together to do a great job of educating our boys and girls so that they can become productive citizens. Our job is to equip them with these opportunities so they can be successful.”
The superintendant then gave an overview of how the district is preparing the 5,785 students across 11 campuses become ready to enter the workforce.
As he concluded his remarks, Superintendant Lazard stated, “Evangeline Parish made The New York Times.”
He added, “I’m so very proud of our French Immersion program and am grateful to Senator Eric LaFleur and to Representative Bernard LeBas who came and approached me when I became superintendant about bringing the program to the parish. We had Madame Alice Renard, who is a brand new teacher at Mamou Elementary, featured in this article. I thought it brought some very good publicity for all of Evangeline Parish. Again, what’s good for the Evangeline Parish School District has to be good for all of Evangeline Parish.”
Earlier in the night, the Chamber members and guests heard from new Chamber President Peter Strawitz on his vision of bringing all of Evangeline Parish together.
“The first place I would like to start is continuity,” Strawitz remarked. “It is the foundation of moving an organization forward in one thought and one desire. That’s to see that we all prosper in this time and age. It begins now with this administration and continues with other administrations which will come after me.”
Another item Strawitz envisions is outreach, which has already been put into motion. As he said, “The outreach program actually allows us to go to each community and ask that community what we can do. We are a parish Chamber of Commerce. It’s not a Ville Platte Chamber of Commerce or a Chataignier Chamber of Commerce. It’s a parish and that parish is Evangeline.”
A strategic plan is one thing Strawitz plans on implementing. “This is something that will need to be done and should be done,” he expressed. “That is where all of us come together with ideas and start to prioritize those ideas. We will continually update that plan so that it won’t just sit in mothballs waiting for someone to execute it. It’s a plan that must and will be executed. We encourage and invite everyone to be a part of that process.”
The final piece of Strawitz’ puzzle in bringing the parish on a united front is pride of ownership.
“Let’s take care of our properties,” Strawitz implored, “and let’s not throw the trash out the window. Every time we get a heavy rain, all of that trash comes up, and it’s just an ugly thing to see. Let’s try to take care of that in our communities and in our neighborhoods. You never know who is coming through your town looking for industrial sites or to locate a new business. The first thing they’re going to look at is the surroundings, so I encourage and invite all of you to take pride in that.”
Strawitz concluded, “in order for all of us to move forward, we all must come together, put our differences aside, and work for the common good of everyone.”
The Chamber members and guests also heard from Strawitz’ successor, Dr. Gwen Fontenot, who looks forward to continuing the current vision.