Leslie DesHotels is Teacher of the Year at Eunice Junior High School.
DesHotels earned a bachelor of arts degree in secondary English and speech education at McNeese State University in Lake Charles in 1993, and her masters of education degree in educational technology from Northwestern University in Natchitoches in 2005.
DesHotels said, “I am both honored and humbled to have been selected for Teacher of the Year at Eunice Junior High.
“I credit my decision to become an educator to my own teachers who showed me that learning can be fun and that serving the community and helping others to reach their own life-long goals is one of the most fulfilling purposes one can have in her lifetime.
DesHotels has been in education career for the past 25 years teaching in Allen, Evangeline, and Acadia parishes. She taught ninth through twelfth grade English, speech and drama classes, and the last seven of these years teaching eighth- grade English Language Arts in St. Landry Parish.
DesHotels gives credit where credit is due. She said, “I consider myself extremely blessed to have a loving, supportive husband, family and friends, who inspire me to strive to be better each day.
“I also credit my mentors and colleagues for my growth in the field, as they too inspire me with their own resourcefulness and focus on life-long learning.
DesHotels cares first about each student and her philosophy as she says, “Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” is my teaching philosophy.
“Building that rapport with students on a personal level is the foundation we need in order to understand that even students who struggle academically will try their best if they know we believe in them.
DesHotels believes in encouraging each student every day, she said “Encouraging students to identify their strengths, set goals for themselves, and focus on education as a stepping-stone to a future career path have been among my greatest accomplishments during my career.
DesHotels firmly believes in getting the community involved at school. She added, “Currently, involving the community by inviting a variety of speakers to come in one a week to promote a Christian lifestyle and reinforce positive mentality and behavior both in and out of school has been one of my favorite roles as advisor of our school’s Fellowship of Christian Students’ Program.
“This is important because the more we as teachers, parents and community work together to reach every child and maximize his/her potential, the greater our chances of creating productive citizens in our communities.