When she was teaching at the elementary school level, Janice Moreau of Alexandria owned a weapon that could, at moment’s notice, discipline a mischievous student. It likely transformed some into quivering sheep.
It was “the look.”
She didn’t need to use a paddle or belt or ruler. If you got “the look,” you had to stay in the classroom with her while your classmates were at play. If that doesn’t sound so bad, listen to this.
“Roy Boone, who was the principal at Nachman for many years,” Janice said, “told me of a time when some boys were causing trouble and he told them he’d give them two options: he could either call their parents or notify their teacher. And they said, ‘You can tell our parents, but please don’t tell Mrs. Moreau.’”
A 1976 graduate of Northwestern State, Janice Barrios Moreau technically retired in 2009 after 33 years as a teacher, but she’s still at it, except now she works part-time as a teacher of teachers, doing that the last 12 years at Grace Christian Academy.
She was hired at Grace as a mentor for inexperienced teachers, from pre-K through 12th grade, and she’s about as good as they come in showing inexperienced teachers the way.
One fine credential she can now claim to validate that opinion: she will be inducted on Saturday, Nov. 4 into Northwestern State’s Hall of Distinguished Educators. The 11:30 a.m. ceremony that day at the Middle School Auditorium will be part of a day-long series of NSU homecoming festivities.
Janice, who was raised in Tioga, started teaching at Boyce Elementary in 1976 right after graduation from NSU, teaching everything from spelling to physical education at the 5th, 6th and 7th grade levels. Some five years later she went to Nachman Elementary, where she taught 5th grade for 18 years and got certified to teach gifted children. From 1999 through 2004, she taught gifted students at Cherokee Elementary.
Former Cherokee principal Bonnie Lord, one of the people who nominated Janice for the Hall of Educators award, was effusive in her praise of Janice. She noted her work as sponsor for the yearbook and the 4-H Club and as a mentor to other teachers. She also praised her work ethic, professionalism, dedication and loyalty. Lord stressed Moreau’s most important virtue as “a genuine love and passion for working closely with children.”
The Rapides Parish School Board summoned her in 2005 to be the coordinator of gifted students for the parish, working under then special education director Debbie Morrison at J.B. Lafargue. She did that through ’09 when she retired.
As recognition of her pioneering work in that area, she was asked in April of 2008 to make a presentation at the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Convention and Expo at the Haynes Convention Center in Boston. As lagniappe, she was invited that same year to make another such presentation at Louisiana’s super conference on special education at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Morrison said at the time Rapides Parish had an issue of “disproportionality,” meaning the parish didn’t have enough minority students in the gifted program. Janice helped in developing a five-year plan to identify more minority children and, since this was a national problem at the time, she was invited to speak about how Rapides handled the situation.
“We established an after-school program and summer program where we hired teachers to work with the students lifting their level of thinking up to qualify for the gifted program” she said.
Janice was also instrumental in getting gifted programs started at Alexandria Senior High, Pineville and Tioga. Before she was the parish gifted coordinator, there was only one gifted program in the parish at Bolton.
“I’m very proud to tell people I’m a teacher because it’s kind of the basis for all other professions,” she continued. “It’s a hard job always and even harder today since we live in a different world.”
In this different world, Janice says she can usually tell after one interview if a prospective teacher is cut out to be a good one and possibly even a career teacher, which is becoming a rare breed.
One indicator – not definitive but often a strong clue — is the way a person dresses, she said.
“If you want to be treated like a professional,” she said, “you need to dress like a professional.”
What does it ultimately take to be a good teacher? It comes down to one word, a word that is the most beautiful in any language: love.
When Janice talks of teaching, she says, “It’s always been what I wanted to do.”