ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / March 22, 2000

The light of the March Teacher Spotlight shines brightly on two early- childhood educators.

Sherry Esta has been involved in the Head Start program for the past 10 years. She first started working with Head Start in Metairie and nowteaches the 4-year-olds at the St. John Child Development Center inGaryville.

Head Start is a federal program started in the 60s under President Lyndon Johnson’s administration and is designed to help out pre-kindergarten children from poor and disadvantaged families get a leg up on education.

“I really like the program,” said Esta, “and the benefits it gives the children. Head Start teaches socialization, health and nutrition, and thechildren get so much out of it.”Esta said she always knew she wanted a career in which she could help children. At first, she thought she might like medicine.”I didn’t like all the blood,” she said with a laugh.

So, she went to Delgado College and got an associate degree in early childhood education and has been teaching ever since. She is continuing hereduction and attends as many Head Start workshops as she can.

Josie Clement, director of Head Start for the St. John Parish SchoolSystem, has nothing but good things to say about Esta.

“She is a dedicated and caring teacher who is an asset to the Head Start program,” said Clement. “The children are her top priority!”Asked about the biggest challenge she faces in teaching, Esta said, “Gaining the trust of the parents can be challenging. Head Start is for thewhole family, and when you get the parents to volunteer, it is wonderful.”When she is not teaching, Esta, who has been married for 16 years, likes to play tennis, walk, read, do needlecraft and spend time with her two children.

For Esta the most rewarding moments of teaching is “when the children come back several years later and remember you. That is really an excitingthing.”For first-grade teacher Martha Cotton the best thing about teaching is “the way kids want to learn and soak up the things you teach them.”Cotton, a four-year veteran at East St. John Elementary, said she alwayswanted to be a teacher.

“Everyone in my family is a teacher,” Cotton said with a smile. “So, I guessit was kind of pre-ordained.”Married for four years and living in Metairie, Cotton said she just loves working with children.

“I don’t regret teaching as a career at all,” she said.

Her dedication is exemplified by a recent achievement. Cotton and anotherteacher at East St. John Elementary, Elizabeth Chacon, recently completedtheir master certification in reading education. This is a nationalcertification that is not easy to attain. Of the 2,000 teachers trained inthis course, only 150 have achieved master’s certification. Cotton andChacon are the only two in the state of Louisiana. That is high-praiseindeed.

The master certification was one of the reasons principal Jerry Galloway chose Cotton for this month’s Teachers Spotlight.

“She is really a fantastic teacher,” said Galloway.

If there is a down side to her profession, Cotton said it is with the parents.

“I don’t have a lot of parental involvement,” she said sadly.

In her spare time, Cotton said she likes to read mystery novels and travel.

Recently she and her husband have gone to Puerta Vallarta in Mexico and visited Nashville, Tenn.

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