Calcasieu Parish teachers will be honored at the McNeese State basketball games Saturday.

This day of teacher appreciation stems from the partnership between the Calcasieu Parish School Board and McNeese State University’s athletic department. Dr. Shannon LaFargue, CPSB superintendent, explained that this event is an offshoot of CPSB and McNeese’s Building Cowboys for the Future campaign, which was launched in October of 2022 to positively engage Calcasieu students with McNeese athletics. “Now we’re gonna celebrate those who used to be Cowboys,” he said.

McNeese Director of Athletics Heath Schroyer recalled the priorities that he and LaFargue set.

“When Shannon and I sat down and talked about this partnership and what it could be, we realized recognizing successful students and teachers throughout the year was at the top of our list,” he explained. “McNeese and CPSB are all educators at heart and we are all residents of Southwest Louisiana.”

He said that hosting and recognizing CPSB teachers was a “no brainer.”

“I truly feel like so many teachers don’t get the recognition they deserve. Teachers are responsible for educating the future leaders every day,” he said. “There is no greater resource than our kids, and no greater responsibility. The ability to simply say ‘thank You’ and ‘we appreciate you’ is the least we can do.”

Any teacher, faculty or staff member will be given free admission to the basketball doubleheader, in which both the women’s and men’s basketball programs will face Houston Christian University.

During halftime of the men’s basketball game, the CPSB district Teachers of the Year – Katherin Gertz, elementary school, Robbie Haley, middle school and Regina Smart, high school – will be recognized. They will be announced and brought out to the court to be presented with swag bags, tickets for the remaining basketball games and season football tickets for the 2023 season.

Schroyer emphasized that the partnership between CPSB and McNeese goes deeper than basketball and athletics. “This partnership is truly a well-rounded educational partnership,” he said.

He recognizes the responsibility that McNeese State University and the athletic department has to the community as “the soul of Southwest Louisiana.”

“I truly believe that as a university and athletic department it’s our duty and our obligation to reach out, extend an olive branch and truly embrace and support our community and the people in it,” he said. “To be honest as an athletic department and a university we haven’t done a very good job of that for a long time. That commitment to our community has been one of my top three objectives since I took over as the athletic director. This partnership with CPSB is an example of that.”

McNeese has hosted several events for CPSB students through the Building Cowboys for the Future program, such as an event for every fifth grader that introduces them to McNeese’s colleges and degree programs.

They have also introduced a program in which every K-5 student and every 6-12 student with honor or banner role, receives a laminated card that gives them free admission to McNeese sporting events. “This creates incentives for the older students and also gets more students from all ages on our campus,” said Schoyer. “Our objective is to have more students on campus experiencing McNeese and all we have to offer.”

Field trips supported by this program are being planned for this spring.

During these trips, students will be able to speak to professors and deans in addition to receiving a tour of the campus.

CPSB teachers, faculty and staff interested in attending Saturday’s games will need a valid school/district ID for admittance. The women’s game begins at 1 p.m. and the men’s game begins at 3:30 p.m.