NOVEMBER LEADERS OF THE MONTH

TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Jenny Poche was selected as Paulina Elementary’s Teacher of the Year.  Mrs. Poche has been teaching for 23 years, with this being her 19th year at Paulina Elementary.  She is a second grade magnet teacher and a member of our school’s Lighthouse Leadership Team.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from University of New Orleans.   Mrs. Poche is also a Google Level 1 Certified Educator and an Apple Certified Teacher.  Mrs. Poche is also a chairperson of PES’s Accelerated Reader Pelican Ball, which is for students who meet their Accelerated Reader goal throughout the year.  Accelerated Reader is a program used to get students reading books on their individual level and earn points by taking tests on the books read.  Mrs. Poche says, “Seeing a child get excited about reading and choosing books brings me such joy.  Building a love of reading in our children is one of the most important tasks we have as teachers.”  Mrs. Poche is married to Greg Poche and has two children Emma and Elyse. 

Outstanding Health Provider

Whitney Steib was selected as Paulina Elementary's Outstanding Health Provider. Mrs. Whitney is a speech-language pathologist at PES and has been servicing students within the St. James Parish School District for 8 years. She is married to Brett Steib. Together they have two children, Wryn and Brooks Steib. 

Mrs. Whitney received both her bachelor's degree and her masters degree from Southeastern Louisiana University. Since starting her career, she’s grown in her passion and knowledge working with those students who have limited to no verbal communication skills. As a speech-language pathologist, she can provide augmentative and alternative communication to children. This includes devices, strategies, systems, and tools that replace or support spoken language. Mrs. Whitney said, “Giving our students a means to communicate for the first time brings me no greater joy. Every child deserves a voice and it’s been my mission at PES to provide that to our students.” Although Mrs. Whitney’s passion lies here, she serves many students with various communication difficulties and seeing their faces each week brings a smile to her face. Mrs. Whitney looks forward to many more years servicing our students, reaching goals, and molding our students to be the best they can possibly be!

Outstanding School Support Employee

Lolisa Stewart-Nelson was selected as Paulina Elementary's Outstanding School Support Employee for the 2023-24 school year.  Mrs. Lolisa is married to Randy Nelson Sr. and has one daughter, Alaija J. Stewart, who resides in Houston, Texas. Mrs. Lolisa is the daughter of the late Wilfred Adams and Linda Luke Stewart. She has three siblings Mildred, Andre and Wilfred Stewart.  

Mrs. Lolisa is a proud graduate of St. James High School, class of 1988. She has been a Pre-K Paraprofessional for the last fifteen years at Paulina Elementary School.  Lolisa has over twenty-five years of experience working with children, from all walks of life.  Having satisfactorily demonstrated competence working with young children, she was awarded her Child Development Associate’s Credential. Mrs. Lolisa has taken numerous Early Childhood Courses through Delgado Community College, working toward her Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education.  When asked about her profession Mrs. Lolisa said, “This field of work has given me hands-on training and knowledge to help shape the minds of all children. I’m a big advocate of reading, I feel it should start at birth.”  

In her leisure time Mrs. Lolisa enjoys reading, shopping and dining out.  She also loves spending time with her family and friends.