Two Catholic school principals to retire at the end of this school year

Photos by Lawrence Chatagnier

Lydia Landry, principal of St. Bernadette Catholic School in Houma for the past seven years, and Gerard Rodrigue Jr., principal of St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School in Thibodaux for the past 16 years, have announced that they will be retiring at the end of this school year.

Lydia Landry

Landry is a Thibodaux native and graduate of Thibodaux High School. She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Nicholls State University in Thibodaux.

She taught at Schriever Elementary School for five years, St. Genevieve Catholic School in Thibodaux for one year and at St. Bernadette Catholic School for 15 years. Landry served as assistant principal at St. Bernadette Catholic School for six years before becoming principal there.

She has been married to Mike Landry for 21 years and they are parishioners of St. Bridget Church parish in Schriever. She has one daughter, Billie Jean LaJaunie.

Landry says that her great aunt was the greatest influence on her decision to become an educator. “She was my mentor and just an amazing educator who taught for 50 years, mostly in a public school in Labadieville and she was also principal at St. Philomena Catholic School in Labadieville for a couple of years before she retired. When I taught kindergarten here, she would drive from Labadieville and teach my kids French lessons.”

If she hadn't become an educator, Landry says she probably would have worked in the business field. She actually ran her own gymnastics business for 20 years, had a rental business, worked in real estate, and worked with her family’s sugar cane farming business.                                                                                                                                                                                       Photo by Lawrence Chatagnier

She says what she enjoyed most about teaching was being with the kids. “I mostly taught kindergarten which is entertaining every single day. And some of the kids I taught are now parents of St. Bernadette students.”

As an administrator, she has enjoyed seeing growth in all of the different areas in the school. “Enrollment has increased, our academics is stronger here, watching young teachers become seasoned teachers, watching the growth in the students, and the growth in the programs. We are constantly making changes; and change is not always positive, but you always learn something from the experience when you make changes.”

The most challenging aspect of being in the education field for Landry has been “learning about what children are going through that you may not be able to see and then to be able to reach those children and be there for those children who are dealing with things that maybe I didn’t have to deal with as a child and my child didn’t have to deal with. Children are having to deal with a lot today.”

She says helping the faculty deal with issues can also be challenging. “It’s trying to be momma to all of them … the teachers, the kids … but the problem is you can’t make it better for everyone; that’s the challenge – you can’t be everything for everyone when it comes to helping people with their needs.”

Of her retirement, she says she originally was supposed to teach at St. Bernadette for five years, while her daughter was at E.D. White, and 28 years later, she’s still there.

“A lot of people my age don’t like change. I was constantly changing. I’m all about learning new technology and learning and trying new things. I feel like it’s now time for someone young to come in with fresh ideas and embrace the changes that are happening. I do believe that when I leave, the school will be in great hands and will continue to grow. And that’s the real reason why I can retire.”

Some of the things Landry is looking forward to doing when she retires is volunteering at the Homestead where her daughter is the administrator, reading more and traveling with her husband and with her daughter. 

“I never said ‘one day I want to be principal.’ Never. I was lead in this direction by someone I admired and who is like a sister to me, Marian Fertitta, (former diocesan superintendent of Catholic Schools), but I have loved every minute of it. I loved my time teaching here. I could have taught forever and been happy doing that. I loved my time as an assistant principal. I could have been an assistant principal forever and been happy. And I’ve loved my time as a principal. So, in other words,” Landry says, “you can’t argue with God; he puts you where you need to be.”

Gerard Rodrigue Jr.

Rodrigue is a Thibodaux native and graduate of E.D. White Catholic High School in Thibodaux. He earned a bachelor’s degree in instrumental music and a master’s degree plus 30 hours in administration and supervision from Nicholls State University in Thibodaux.

Throughout his career he has worked as a band director in schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, St. Genevieve Catholic School in Thibodaux, Central Lafourche High School in Mathews, and East Thibodaux Junior High School in Thibodaux, where he also served as administrative assistant.

He also worked as assistant principal at W.S. Lafargue Elementary School in Thibodaux; and as principal at South Thibodaux Elementary School and Holy Savior Catholic School in Lockport.

He and his wife Madelyn Raynal Rodrigue will celebrate their 44th wedding anniversary in June of this year. The couple has two daughters and six grandchildren. His oldest daughter Alaina Daigle, who lives in Thibodaux, has three children: Thomas, Abigail and Amelia. And his youngest daughter Alicia Authement, who lives in Baton Rouge, has three children, also: Everett, Anne Marie and Alice.

Rodrigue comes from a family of educators. He says his mother was a teacher in the public school system and she also taught at E.D. White Catholic High School before she retired. His father was a principal and a supervisor in the public school system. And, he adds that both of his wife’s parents were educators.

While he was in high school, Rodrigue says he had pretty much decided he was going to study pre-med and then changed his mind in his senior year.                                                                                                                                                                                       Photo by Lawrence Chatagnier

“One thing that really influenced me happened during my senior year in high school. My band director asked me if I had given any thought to becoming an educator because he thought I would be a good teacher. That conversation put the thought in my mind that maybe teaching was something I should consider doing.”

Rodrigue says what he has enjoyed most about teaching was the relationships he was able to have with students. 

“As a band director, when you are teaching students how to play something and they are struggling with it, and then you have that moment when you see the light bulb go off for them and you know that they ‘got it’ … that’s what teaching is all about. Coming together as a full band and putting all the pieces together to play a concert or at a festival is something else I really enjoyed,” says Rodrigue.

“Education is one of those professions where you don’t see the fruits of your labor until much later when the kids grow up, so I always enjoyed keeping track of the students and seeing what they went on to do and seeing the great things they’ve accomplished later in life.”

Much like the relationships teachers form with their students, as an administrator Rodrigue has appreciated the relationships he has developed with his faculty, as well as with students and their parents.

“Working together with the faculty to make sure that we have the most up-to-date textbooks, instruction materials, and technology, and keeping the school facilities up to date and making improvements in that area all contribute to making school the best it can possibly be,” says the administrator.

The most challenging aspect of being in the education field, says Rodrigue, is “keeping up with latest trends and developments in curriculum and technology, because things are always evolving; and we want to provide the best possible education to our students.”
One of the main differences between being an administrator in a public school versus a Catholic school, explains Rodrigue, is that in the public system you don't have to worry about the school’s finances. As an administrator in a Catholic school, you do have to keep track of the finances and are responsible for making sure you have the funds to do what you need to do, so that is also a challenge.
Rodrigue has several hobbies. He really enjoys playing golf, exercising, singing in the choir at the Co-Cathedral, working in his yard, and also playing pickle ball, which is something he just recently started doing and really likes.

He says what he is most looking forward to about being retired is “not having to set the alarm clock to wake up in the morning and not having to live on a bell schedule.” He is also looking forward to having more time to enjoy his hobbies and travel. And, after he retires, he plans to get back to playing trombone with the community band.

“I feel really blessed to have had a long career in education and I’m very grateful for all of the people who have supported me along the way. Through the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some really awesome educators, parents, students and other administrators.”