A Brusly teacher's morning greetings took her to Jennifer Hudson's stage. The school board took notice.
A Port Allen High science teacher won a $20,000 Shell lab makeover for the second time. A Brusly Elementary kindergarten teacher's morning greetings took her to The Jennifer Hudson Show. The West Baton Rouge Parish School Board honored both on Oct. 21.
One teacher turned a $20,000 award into a fully stocked science lab. The other landed on national TV for saying good morning to her students. On Oct. 21, the West Baton Rouge Parish School Board recognized them both.
A lab makeover, again
Stephanie Trimble teaches science at Port Allen High School. She just won a $20,000 lab makeover from the Shell Science Lab Regional Challenge. It's the second time she's won it.
Trimble said the money fully stocked her classroom this year. It also lets her students use science to solve real problems and take that work out into the community, she said.
"The kids see that somebody believes in them," Trimble said. "And that's meaningful for them."
Trimble used to teach kindergarten and first grade at Brusly Elementary before moving to Port Allen High to teach biology. She said her next job is helping other teachers in the district apply for the program.
'It's the heart work'
Loren Mulmore is in her third year teaching at Brusly Elementary, where she teaches kindergarten. Every morning she meets her students at the door, and each one has a greeting of their own.
Her principal filmed it last year to show what the school was doing. The video took off. Celebrities noticed, she said. The "Today" show reached out. Then "The Jennifer Hudson Show" called.
Mulmore said she thought it was a scam.
"Not too many people know what Brusly is," she said. "They can't even pronounce it."
The show flew her out, then surprised her on air with $10,000 and eyeglasses from Eyemart Express.
Everybody told her not to spend it all on her classroom, she said. She's spending it on her classroom.
"When you have a heart for it, it's what you do," Mulmore said. "It's not hard work, it's the heart work."
On the show, Mulmore said she teaches in memory of her son, Eric, who died of congenital heart disease when he was 18 months old. She said she sees a little of him in every child she teaches.
Superintendent Dr. Chandler Smith said Mulmore's story of why she became a teacher "hit me in my heart." He told board members who hadn't seen the video to go watch it.