Prudhomme ready to begin new school year at JSM

By: HEATHER
BOGARD
Lifestyles Editor

Danica Prudhomme, third and fourth grade teacher at James Stephens Montessori School (JSM), is ready to get back to work this week and begin the new school year with a fresh group of students.
She was inspired to go into the education field by several of the wonderful teachers she had while growing up, and says, “I have always had good teachers and they helped inspire me to become a teacher.” She studied at LSU-Eunice and received her degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and has been teaching since 2008-2009. She taught for one year at Ville Platte Elementary before transferring to JSM, where she has remained.
One of the biggest joys of teaching, Prudhomme shares, is “watching the students work hard to succeed and then watching them grow up over the years.” She admits it is always fun to start a new school year with a new group of eager students and get to know them and then watch them grow up and move on. She notes that the first group of students she taught in first grade are now in the eighth grade. She adds it makes her happy when former students fondly remember her and come up to her to say hello, either at school or out in public somewhere.
In addition to teaching, Prudhomme serves as the school’s 4-H Volunteer Leader. She heads the school’s 4-H program and was honored at the end of the last school year when she was selected as 4-H Volunteer Leader of the Year. She has been a volunteer leader since her first year at JSM and greatly enjoys her involvement with the 4-H program.