Tangipahoa board highlights clergy tours, 'swag' program and student honors

Mr. Porter, speaking for the Office of Innovation, told the Tangipahoa Parish School System board that clergy listening tours launched last fall to boost family engagement and community partnerships visited 31 schools, involved 44 clergy leaders and led to 23 schools being "adopted" by clergy and their congregations. He introduced the district’s "hope closets," campus stores stocked with snacks, school supplies, backpacks and jackets that clergy groups are helping maintain.

The initiative, Porter said, was intended to share district programs with faith leaders and to invite congregations to reinforce school resources and messaging in the community. "We wanted to do listening tours this year," Porter said. "We invited clergy from throughout the district to come and sit with us," then take the tours into schools so they could carry back what they saw to their congregations.

Several clergy who joined the tours described their impressions to the board. Pastor Danny Carter said touring classrooms and seeing robotics, engineering and restored music programs reinforced his confidence in the district’s direction and its staff. "It was so good to see the robotics, the engineering departments...the excitement of the staff," Carter said, adding the visits fostered unity and new collaboration between churches and schools.

The board also recognized programs focused on students with disabilities under a local brand the presenters call "swag learners." Mildred Johnson, who described herself as having worked in special education for 33 years, said the label is intended to emphasize students’ strengths and gifts rather than deficit-focused language. Johnson described the "swag Olympics," a job-competition program, career fairs and a "swag prom," a celebratory school event she said allowed students—some attending their first in-person school event—to participate fully in community life.

Lori, identified in the meeting as a marketing director partnering with the district, said corporate support helped fund the prom and related events. She described one student, Daniel, a virtual student who attended the prom, brought flowers and spoke publicly after working on his speech—an example she said of the events’ impact.

Separately, the board honored student achievements in athletics and music. Mark Vining, athletics coordinator, introduced Gordon Gross III as the LHSA 4A boys pole vault champion; Vining said Gross cleared 14 feet, 11 inches and participates through the district’s virtual program while competing for his home-based school’s athletics. A music presentation recognized dozens of students who qualified for all-state ensembles across choir, band and orchestra and praised teachers who develop feeder programs.

The board played a short video summarizing the clergy-tour theme—"opportunity," "hope in action" and strengthened partnerships—and reiterated that community tours (including realtor tours) will continue next year to broaden public engagement with district schools.

Board members and administrators said the presentations demonstrated the value of bringing community leaders into schools and of programs that provide social and employment-related experiences for students with disabilities.