NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University’s Gallaspy College of Education and Human Development will recognize several individuals during Homecoming festivities. The College will induct five new members into the Hall of Distinguished Educators and recognize an Outstanding Young Professional and a Friend of Education. An induction ceremony will take place beginning at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 in the Teacher Education Center auditorium.
Preceding the ceremony will be a reception and reunion from 1-1:30 p.m. in the Commons Area of the Teacher Education Center.
Honored as 2016 inductees into the Hall of Distinguished Educators are the late Dr. Raymond Gilbert, Mack Daniel Knotts of Bossier City, Edwina Lewis of Natchitoches, Robert Silvie of Shreveport and David Thrash of Bossier City. Micah Coleman of Natchitoches is the Outstanding Young Professional and Paula Hickman of Shreveport is this year’s Friend of Education.
Gilbert, a former Natchitoches resident, was a retired professor who served on the NSU faculty from 1970-1990 where he taught graduate courses in music and educational psychology and was sought after as a professor because of his dedication and commitment to his students.
Born in 1922, Gilbert was a native of El Dorado, Arkansas. Following service in the U.S. Army, he studied at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago where he received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 1949 and 1951. He began his career teaching voice and piano, both private lessons and in public schools, in El Dorado where he was also coordinator of the El Dorado High School fine arts program, a church music director and frequent vocal performer. He moved to Natchitoches, earned a doctorate in education at NSU in 1970 and for more than 40 years was involved in church, community and philanthropic endeavors. He was also highly involved with many educational organizations, serving in several offices. He received many honors during his career, including the French Legion of Honor Medal, the Outstanding Lion Award and a Natchitoches Treasure designation. He passed away June 16, 2016.
Knotts earned a bachelor’s degree at Northwestern State in health and physical education in 1961, a master’s in health and physical education/administration in 1963 and +30 at Louisiana Tech in 1973. As an undergraduate, Knotts was a member of the Demon baseball team, Phi Epsilon Kappa Fraternity and Kappa Blue Key Honor Fraternity. He is also a member of Northwestern State’s N Club Athletic Hall of Fame.
He began his career as a coach and teacher at St. Mary’s High School and Haynesville High School and served as principal at Haynesville Elementary and Jr. High from 1970-81 and principal at Haynesville High School from 1981-1992 before serving as a Bossier Parish School Board member from 1998-2010. While a School Board member, he served as chairman of the Insurance Committee and as president and helped generate support and secure funding for several schools, including Parkway High School. After retiring, he worked as an insurance agent and was a volunteer basketball and baseball coach and recreation director in Haynesville. He lives in Bossier City.
Lewis earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education at Grambling State University in 1957 and a master’s degree in elementary teaching at Northwestern State in 1967. She also holds certification in supervision of student teachers, +30 professional development hours and additional graduate hours earned during her career. In her first years of teaching from 1950-1970, she taught home economics at Gooch School, fourth grade at Clarence Jr. High and language arts and math at North Natchitoches Elementary and spent a year as a math demonstration teacher at Northwestern State. From 1971-1992, she was at NSU Middle Lab teaching math and language arts, supervising pre-student teachers and was a substitute math instructor. From 1992-96, she worked as adjunct faculty, workshop planner and presenter for Red River, Avoyelles, DeSoto, Sabine, Winn and Natchitoches parishes.
Lewis’s post-retirement includes work with Natchitoches Parish LEAP test preparation, the Natchitoches Literacy Council, St. Anthony Catholic Church, the Natchitoches Parish Library Trustee Board and Natchitoches Parish Vocational/Technical College Board of Directors. She is also involved with the NSU Alumni Association, GSU Alumni Association, Natchitoches Parish Retired Educators Association and the Natchitoches Parish Council on Aging. She has received many honors, including being named the Middle/Junior High School Teacher of the Year for the parish and state, Iota Mu chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Dedicated Service Award, Louisiana Delta Great Retired Teacher of the Year, Natchitoches Business and Professional Woman of the Year, the Mayor’s Distinguished Service Award and a Natchitoches Treasure distinction.
Silvie is currently assistant principal at Captain Shreve High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business and office education in 1975 and a master’s in business and office education in 1977 at Northwestern State and completed +30 hours at NSU, Southern University, Louisiana Tech, Centenary and Louisiana State University. He began his career as a classroom teacher at North Caddo High School and Woodlawn High School from 1975-1996 before serving as assistant principal at North Caddo from 1996-2005 and interim principal from 2002-03. He served as principal at Fairpark High School from 2008-09 before his current position at Captain Shreve. He has also taught as a part-time instructor at Louisiana Technical College and served as part time bookkeeper for Project Uplift.
During his career, Silvie has served on the Caddo Parish Schools Discipline Review Committee, mentored assistant principals for the Louisiana Department of Education, evaluated and reported on the JUMP program, assessed intern teachers and served on the state curriculum guide writing team for business education subjects. He has prepared and published faculty and student handbooks, coordinated LEAP remediation plans, prepared schools for accreditation and accumulated several hundred professional development in-service hours. He has been named PTA Educator of Distinction, Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers and KMSS Teacher of the Week. He has been involved with several parent/teacher student associations and holds membership in several professional and community organizations.
Thrash has been principal at Bossier High School since 2006 and has also served as principal at Haughton Middle School, assistant principal at Haughton High School and as a teacher and coach at Benton High School and Ringgold High School. He graduated from NSU in 1983 with a degree in social studies and health and physical education, earned a master’s in health education at Louisiana Tech and +30 in education leadership at Centenary College. Thrash spent 15 years teaching middle and high school at Benton where he was head baseball and football coach and led both groups to the state semi-finals.
Thrash’s awards include being named Louisiana Principal of the Year, Bossier Parish Principal of the Year and Bossier Press Tribune Readers’ Choice School Principal finalist. He is a member of several professional, community and leadership organizations, including the Bossier City Lions Club, Bossier Association of Principals, Louisiana Association of Educations and National Association of Secondary School Principals. Since 2012, he has served on the Louisiana High School Athletic Association school relations committee and has also served as the 3A District chairperson for LSHAA. He has served on the Bossier Parish School Board since 1985.
Coleman has been a teacher and the head boys basketball coach at Natchitoches Central High School since 2006 where he led the program to two state titles in the last three years and four Top 28 appearances in the last five years. Coleman earned his undergraduate in health and physical education at Northwestern State in 1999, master’s in sports administration in 2002 and +30 in education leadership in 2012. He is certified as a secondary PE teacher, parish/city school supervisor of instruction and principal.
Coleman began his career as a science teacher at Negreet High School and was a graduate assistant and assistant men’s coach for the NSU men’s basketball team. He was also an assistant men’s basketball coach at McNeese State University, assistant boys basketball coach and teacher at Sam Houston High School and head boys basketball coach and teacher at Hamilton Christian Academy in Lake Charles where he led the team to its first-ever quarterfinal appearance before joining the NCHS staff. He is a member of several professional and athletic organizations, as well as First Baptist Church of Natchitoches and Jaycees and has been recognized as the state Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year, All CenLa Basketball Coach of the Year, 5-time District Coach of the Year, Shreveport Times Basketball Coach of the Year and Kiwanis Southeast U.S. Regional Teacher of the year.
Hickman is executive director of the Community Foundation of North Louisiana where she is responsible for the Foundation’s leadership, management, strategic planning and development. She helped create and incubate Step Forward, a cradle to career initiative that has engaged over 1,000 in the Shreveport-Bossier area to collectively drive excellence in education so that children of the area are prepared to compete in a 21st century global economy.
Hickman holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Alabama and juris doctorate from LSU Law Center. Although not an educator, she has always valued education as a pathway to a better life. She is a co-founder of VOA LightHouse, an educational enrichment center for children in Shreveport’s most impoverished area through which thousands of children have received support to obtain education and eventually employment. Last year 100 percent of participants stayed in school, 80 percent had a grade point average of 2.0 or better and 100 percent avoided involvement with teen pregnancy and the juvenile justice system.
Hickman has volunteered support to numerous organizations, including Providence House, Glen Retirement System, Centenary College Planning Giving Council, Volunteers of America, Shreveport Symphony, Junior League of Shreveport-Bossier and KDAQ.
NSU’s Gallaspy College of Education and Human Development annually recognizes educators whose work has made an impact on the lives of others. For more information on the College visit nsula.edu/academics/education-human-development. A full schedule of Homecoming events is available at northwesternalumni.com/homecoming16.