The Natchitoches Area Chamber of Commerce recognized Elite Scholars from throughout the area at an Awards Luncheon on Feb. 7. 

 

St. Mary’s Principal Steven Wren proudly shifted my focus to the school’s honorees seated nearby. 

 

Ray Gandy was holding court at his table as Teacher of the Year. I’m certain the students adore him. 

 

I completely mistook Junior High Student of the Year Chloe Methvin for a teacher in my haste. Her confidence took me many post-junior high years to reach. 

 

High School Student of the Year Ava Errington was entertaining at her table as well but it was 5th Grade Student of the Year Hudson Harrington’s table where I ended up squatting. 

 

Our conversation was stilted with awkwardness at first. It was his first time at an awards banquet and my first time on an official press assignment.  

 

But I’d been a teacher and had already extended my family tree branch by 9. I could talk to students. Besides, kids track faster than adults. We’d found similar ground within two minutes. 

 

Asking about the process for selection as Student of the Year, I learned he’d had to create a portfolio. 

 

Second acts come with starter budgets and I’d grown up in the era of streetlights not screens. I’d been beating my head against the wall trying to build a portfolio for my work. 

 

“Ugh, how did you do it?” I asked. “I can’t even figure out how to create a QR code.”

 

Lighting up immediately, he said he had just learned how to create one. I’d like to say that the teacher in me wanted to help him segue from application to synthesis in his learning process but it was the dinosaur in me who desperately needed help. 

 

“Can you tell me how to do it?” If you saw a movie star become a president in your lifetime, you know that our country would be better off outsourcing our technological needs to our elementary schools instead of foreign countries. 

 

Talking me through the process with great ease, I wondered if he would be available on a consulting basis for my future. 

 

Thanking him, I had one last question. 

 

“What was the best part of today?”

 

His mother quickly helped him reword his reply. 

 

“Getting to represent the school.” He was proud to be there and the honor was well-deserved. 

 

But I like the real that comes before society’s red pen so I vibed more with his initial answer. 

 

“Getting to skip school.”