Continuing a time-honored celebration of superior Southeast Texas teachers envisioned by Beaumont Foundation of America founder and Chairman Emeritus Wayne A. Reaud in 2009, the “Wayne A. Reaud Excellence in Education Award” ceremony held May 19 marked the 17th year of recognizing educators for their dedication to inspiring learning in students of all abilities and backgrounds. During the event, esteemed educators are honored with a formal awards ceremony, a professional portrait, crystal obelisk and a check for $10,000 each. Since the program’s inception, Beaumont Foundation President and CEO Ed Keller shared, more than $3.3 million has been placed directly into the hands of educators that help mold the minds of the community’s children. Current Chairman Reagan Reaud said he plans to continue the legacy.
The coveted Wayne A. Reaud Excellence in Education Award was created by Beaumont attorney and philanthropist Wayne Reaud, who, when reflecting on the foundation of a blessed life, pointed directly to the guidance of parents Alfred E. and Gena Reaud, as well as Beaumont school educators that instilled the love of knowledge in a young man with big dreams and a modest background. After reaching success and settling in at the helm of a nonprofit with a stated mission to support Southeast Texas, Reaud knew exactly how to show his appreciation for those who work tirelessly in the background to grow the community’s children into the leaders of tomorrow.
Chartered in 2001, the Beaumont Foundation nonprofit was created with a mission to combat the high cost of low knowledge. The grant-making institution’s stated purpose: “To enrich the lives and enhance the futures of the deserving children and youth, families and the elderly with a focus on improving education, health care and social services,” has resulted in funds for educators and scholarships to a broad range of charitable, religious and educational organizations across the United States under the leadership of Reaud and the Foundation board, CEO Keller, General Counsel and Chief Financial Officer Robert W. Craft and Program Director Hannah M. Ward.
In 2009, the first Wayne A. Reaud Excellence in Education Awards were lauded on 15 Southeast Texas educators recognized for their service in a field revered for the impact made on an untold numbers of children under their care.
“It’s just a little way for us to say, ‘Thank you,’” Reaud shared. Reaud, the founding partner of the Beaumont-based Reaud, Morgan & Quinn Law Firm and original Beaumont Foundation Chairman, said he benefitted from excellent education ensured by many teachers over the course of his life. He especially fondly recalled five educators, each who made a profound impact on his life, that sparked a desire to honor especially exceptional educators whenever given the opportunity. “I wanted to do something to show my appreciation.
“This was the best idea I could come up with.”
Now, more than 15 years after the first class of Excellent Educators received their honor, the annual event continued May 19 with 15 additional educators each receiving the portrait, crystal, gala and $10,000. Foundation Chairman Reagan Reaud championed continuation of the beloved Educator Awards started by his father 17 years ago.
“I was just speaking to Chairman Emeritus, and I was telling him that the work … has been so profound that I’m going to argue next year that we raise the award of $15,000,” Board Chairman Reagan A. Reaud said to much applause. “Tonight, we honor 15 of you who do this work at the highest level, across grades, across subjects, across schools, across every kind of student. The award is real: the money, the obelisk, the portrait. For me, it is worthy, but those are symbols.
“The real recognition is what your students carry with them after they leave your classroom. As for me, I think that (Ralph Waldo) Emerson said it best, and that is, ‘Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.’ I think that’s what you all know.”
Reagan Reaud further related insight gleaned from entrenching himself in the future on the horizon. When the Beaumont Foundation first began in 2001, growing inequality was noted by the difference in those with access, or not, to internet technology; the foundation spent millions to bridge the gap. Now, a new divide is apparent in those destined for success, or not, Reagan Reaud said.
“The new divide is not between those with access to AI and those without access; access will be largely universal,” Reagan Reaud explained of what he has learned. “The divide will be between the people who get to think and the people who cannot. That is the divide you all, as teachers, stand against every day in your classrooms.
“Every time you refuse to accept a lazy answer, you stand against it. Every time you ask a student, ‘Why do you think that?’ you stand against it. Every time you read a paper carefully enough to know whether the student wrote it himself, you stand against it. Every time you see a child who has been told he isn’t smart, and you teach him that he is, you stand against it. You’re not just teaching subject matter, you’re forming the kind of mind that can use the most powerful tools in history, without being used by them.
“That is a call, ladies and gentlemen, not a job, and it has never mattered more.”
Guest speaker, Beaumont-based anesthesiologist and Republican primary State Rep. nominee Ray Callas, like the awards’ founder, recalled primary and secondary school educators and the impact they had in shaping his trajectory in life.
“I still remember my first-grade teacher, my kindergarten teacher, my third-grade teacher, my fifth-grade teacher…,” Callas listed. “Your teachers give you an opportunity that most people never had, and so I bless and thank every teacher in here, not only for the 15 men and women that are going to get awards tonight. Thank you for your service, but thank you to your administrators, your students, your staff, and you, personally, for giving up your wallet and putting your heart into educating people. It means the world to me and thank you very much.”
“Kids deserve to be educated,” Callas summed up. “Kids deserve to have a path. Kids deserve the best we can do.
“So, as we move forward, I want to thank you, Wayne Reaud, and thank your family for allowing me to speak. But, more importantly, I want to thank you all for being here to show how much this foundation means. And finally, to the men and women that get this award tonight, God bless you, and God bless the state of Texas.”
Pastors Rick White, of Christian Fellowship, and the Rev. Dr. John Adolph, of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, were among the guests in attendance who offered group prayer for continued blessings on the honored educators, and for those who presented and hosted the prestigious affair. Adolph, who also served as the Master of Ceremonies, presented each honored educator as they accepted their award. The Wayne A. Reaud Excellence in Education Awardees were named in: Denise Hudson, Kelli Hargrave, Brandi Clark, Margaret Swope, Debbie Jordan, Candice Aldrich, Joanna Lane, Patricia Broussard, Kaila Foster, Patricia Hackman, Chris Moore, Yolanda Avery, Michael Majors, Stephanie Rucker, and Carla Suzanne Jordan. The esteemed educators represent a combined 350 years of service.