Advocating for climate change

Every once in a while, a person comes around to a place in despair and positively affects the overall climate with his or her presence. For the last six years at Mamou High School, that person was the school’s principal Liz Chatelain. However, now, she is leaving to advocate for this kind of climate change in schools across the state.
“It’s definitely mixed feelings because Mamou High has become part of me in every kind of way, shape, and form,” Chatelain said. “I often refer to it as my fourth child because I’ve been taking care of it for six years now, but I’ve taught there forever too. It’s definitely a transition, but I’m ready for a change.”
“I want to thank the Mamou community and the whole Evangeline Parish School District,” she continued. “I talk about how Mamou has got this special place in my heart, but Evangeline Parish does too in general. Whatever I do, I’m always going to be on that team.”
Chatelain’s team journey in education began with her following in her parents’ footsteps. “My parents Reggie and Linda Soileau were teachers at Mamou Lower,” she said, “so I have just a long line of teachers in my family. I never questioned what I wanted to do. I always knew I would be a teacher. I became a teacher at 22-years-old, and my daughter Kaitlyn is now student teaching at Mamou High School. I hope to actually keep that line of educators going in our family.”
Chatelain’s time in the classroom was spent from student teaching first graders to teaching junior high math.
“I did my student teaching in first grade, and I sat down on the floor and read books for half a year and figured out that was not where I belong,” she explained. “I got my first job in fifth grade math, and then I remained a math teacher in middle school the majority of my career.”
“I struggled in math as a student,” Chatelain continued. “That was probably my weakest subject, but I think that made me a good math teacher because I could relate to the struggle of not understanding something. Whenever I taught it, I was able to break it down to where I knew those kids who struggled could understand.”
Chatelain taught math in Mamou for 18 years. Along the way, she received her master’s degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She remained in the classroom for another three years before an opportunity opened.
“It’s very rare where someone will go from teacher to assistant principal to principal at the same school,” she stated. “Most places would discourage that.”
She continued, “When I first became principal, the powers that be would say that’s got to be really difficult because I knew everybody. For me, knowing everybody was always a help because I had positive relationships at Mamou High School and in the community. I felt like whenever I made tough decisions most people knew me, knew my character and were more accepting of those difficult decisions than if I would have been someone from another place.”
In her six years as principal, Chatelain has seen the school’s fair share of growth. “Whenever I got to be principal,” she said, “we were a C school. My highest moment was when we brought our school up to an A school in three years.”
That growth, according to Chatelain, was attributed to changing the school’s climate through creating a students’ lounge called The Den and finding ways to bring the students together.
“All of those extra things contributed to the overall positive school climate and are so valuable for morale. It makes the kids want to do well. I tried to tell the kids, ‘Mamou High is a great place and they should be proud to go there.’ If they aren’t proud of that place, they have no motivation to make it great. I really feel like all the videos we did and all those things brought people together and the community as well.”
Chatelain’s morale boost was not only for the students but also for the teachers as well. As she said, “I took every opportunity I could to treat them, to relieve them, and to encourage them. Without teachers you have nothing, so they need to be happy too. It’s an overall positive school climate where everyone is important.”
The outgoing principal is now looking to take all her experiences as a teacher and principal in Mamou to schools across the state.
“I’m hoping to be a resource for teachers who are struggling and principals who are struggling,” Chatelain said. “I’m hoping some of my experiences, some of my relationships, and some of the things I have done and accomplished will help those people move forward or overcome some hurdles they are having.”
She continued, “I look at it as a chance for me to grow and to expand and experience new things as well. I’m leaving my comfort zone for sure, and that part is scary. But, I realize I’m not going to grow if I stay in one spot. I hope to be a resource for Mamou High School all the time, but I just want to expand that throughout the state.”
Besides her experiences and achievements, Chatelain is taking with her what she values the most. “If I had to name one thing I value the most about being in Mamou,” she expressed, “it would definitely be the relationships with the kids. I’ve learned many, many lessons from sitting in an office and just talking to them whether it was a discipline problem or an achievement somebody had made.”
With her new job with the state’s Department of Education, Chatelain will be driving across the state but will still be living in the Mamou area where she discovered her own passions.
“I have a passion for middle school because those are the lost kids,” she commented, “but I’ve developed an absolute love for high school. I feel so much joy when I see the seniors graduate. I know their potential, and I tell every one of them if they do not graduate then that is a personal failure for me. I’m invested in every one of them.”
She concluded, “That part is really difficult to leave behind. I’m hoping I can find that same passion in what I’m doing across the state that somehow resembles that feeling I get from working with the seniors at Mamou High School.”