DESTREHAN – Barry Guillot, science teacher at Harry M. Hurst Middle School, shared the Wetland Watchers message recently in Washington D.C.

Guillot was selected to serve on the National Service-Learning Committee, based on his success in getting support for preserving the LaBranche Wetlands in St. Charles Parish from area business, industry, state and local agencies, universities and non-profit organizations.

The committee was one result of a 1998 initiative launched by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and it is dedicated to making service-learning part of every student’s education.

Guillot was chosen to serve a two-year term on the Partnership’s Membership/Constituency Committee, with a primary goal of developing a national, state and local outreach plan to identify potential supporters and venues as well as opportunities to partner with outside agencies.

“The only thing more impressive than the list of partners that we have with this project,” Guillot said, “is the amount of enthusiasm and dedication each one of these partners exudes towards the education of our students.

“I have always said that the LaBranche Wetlands Watchers is a model of what a cooperative project should be.”

At a reception Guillot attended in connection with the committee’s work, he and his wife, Amber, presented a Wetlands Watcher T-shirt to former Sen. John Glenn.

Glenn addressed the reception and remarked, “Even before Sept. 11, young people in this country were looking for ways they could help other individuals, their communities and their country.”

Glenn continued: “The desire to make a difference runs strong in American youth, when passions are intense and the search for self-definition is at its peak.

“Service-learning builds on the growing willingness of students to serve their communities – and makes sure there is a high-quality academic component to that community service.”

He concluded, “Service-learning can help to lay the foundation for good scholarship – and good citizenship – for every person in our country.”

Earlier this year, Hurst Middle School was selected as the first Louisiana school to be designated a National Service-Learning Leader School.