Photos by Stacy Rennhoff

Mayor Holden Visits SJA

Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden visited St. Joseph’s Academy on February 22, dropping in on several classes and talking with administrators, students and teachers. Led on his tour by seniors Megan Thibodeaux and Lindsay Southwick, Holden visited the SJA library and Help Desk and talked with students in John Richardson’s computer architecture class and Josh Fleig’s multimedia class.

“...this is an environment that is seamless.” Mayor Kip Holden

Holden, who is exploring partnerships and other collaborative efforts to enhance education in Baton Rouge, said he was impressed with SJA’s technology program. “You see a school that is on the cutting edge, certainly, but what’s also impressive is that this is an environment that is seamless,” he said. “From the teachers using technology to enhance their classroom instruction to students actually doing computer repairs, the integration is complete. It is obvious that these students will have a tremendous advantage in the world beyond high school.”

Both of the mayor’s tour guides enjoyed the opportunity to meet him. “I was really honored to be able to tour the mayor around,” Southwick said. “I was amazed at how laid back and good natured he was. He seemed to like the technology that we have here, and he asked a lot of really good questions and shared some of his ideas for the future with us. I’m glad that Mayor Holden got a chance to see what St. Joseph’s Academy is all about. Not only did he see the laptops and technology, he talked to students and teachers and got to see what goes on here. It was a really great experience to meet him and see what he’s like, and I hope he can say the same about his visit to SJA.”

Thibodaux agreed. “Meeting Mayor Holden was a great experience for me,” she said. “He is truly a wonderful, welcoming person with a big heart and smile. Mayor Holden shared some of his ideas for future educational programs involving technology for schools in Baton Rouge. I’m extremely glad we have such an outstanding leader for Baton Rouge, and I look forward to seeing his improvements for Baton Rouge.”