St. Charles Parish Public Schools (SCPPS) issued service awards last week to numerous long-time employees, most notably two locals that served the parish school system an impressive 50 years each – District V School Board Member John L. Smith and itinerant therapist Peggy Ayala.
As one of two St. Charles Parish individuals serving SCPPS for over 50 years, Smith began the first leg of his education career in the mid-1960s, initially putting in 30-years of service in local public schools as both a teacher and later as an administrator.
“I taught in St. Charles Parish beginning in 1964,” Smith said recently, after receiving recognition from SCPPS. “I was a teacher at Boutte Elementary School, and then helped open J.B. Martin Junior High School in 1969, serving there as an assistant principal.”
Smith would go on to serve in several other school administrative roles throughout St. Charles Parish and Orleans Parish and was first elected to the St. Charles Parish School Board in 1982.
In addition to his work with the SCPPS, Smith has continued to fill his schedule with involvement in multiple state and national education-related organizations.
The longtime school board member said he seeks to interface whenever possible with legislators regarding upcoming education policy and funding decisions affecting Louisiana public schools.
“I want to be a voice for public education, and make sure…there is a seat at the table for educators whenever policy, laws or issues related to education are being discussed,” Smith said of his work on the school board and with other education-related groups.
After over 50 years steeped in the work of St. Charles Parish education, Smith will continue serving the remaining three years of his current board member term, in what will be his last term due to term limits.
Peggy Ayala, a longtime itinerant speech and language therapist for SCPPS, is the second SCPPS employee recently recognized for her five decades of dedicated work to St. Charles Parish. She will formally retire in May 2024.
“I’m an itinerant therapist – that means you go from school to school,” Ayala explained of her typical work week. “When I first started, we [were assigned] over 100 kids and there were only three therapists – we had to travel the ferry to get from school to school.”
Ayala has worked under numerous St. Charles Parish superintendents and principals in her 50 years with SCPPS, including several noted school administrators who later had schools named for them.
“It’s been very gratifying to be able to teach children how to speak correctly, and how to express their thoughts and ideas,” Ayala, 74, said of her long career with SCPPS. “When I got here, I made friends and I stayed here, and the system just grew and grew – and I liked where they were going.”
Beginning her SCPPS career in 1971, Ayala’s first assignment was at Luling Elementary School, which is coincidentally where she is scheduled to be when she officially retires next year. Her upcoming retirement will be her second – she first retired after 30 years of service, but soon returned three years later after traveling the country with her husband, giving another two decades of service to the school system.
“[There were a lot of] children that made my journey very special,” Ayala reminisced as she nears the end of her five-decade run with SCPPS.
Ayala plans to continue to work in the school system by working as a substitute teacher shortly after retirement.
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