By LEONARD GRAY

LUTCHER – Settling in to the new grade configuration in Lutcher is going well, Lutcher High School principal Jerry Mullen said. “Our biggest problem is keeping track of where kids are going.”

The school is a constant beehive of activity, with buses leaving or arriving from the new Math and Science Center on the West Bank in St. James, as well as seventh- and eighth-graders occupying a wing of the high school.

“All day long, they’re picking up or unloading buses,” Mullen said.

Grades 7 and 8 were shifted from Lutcher Junior High School, the current Lutcher Elementary, to accommodate that growing population. Lutcher High School, meanwhile, moved from an average of 350 students to 970 students this year.

“The kids have been great,” Mullen said, and have made the adjustments to keep things running smoothly. “They just go along with the flow.”

The junior-high students are segregated as much as possible, with lunch periods apart from the high school students and they even wear different uniform shirts, gold for junior high and white for high school.

Teaching staff also made a jump, from 40 to 65 teachers this year. There was an initial problem with the air conditioning system in the junior-high wing, but overall, “it’s been an experience for everybody.”

On the flip side, Mullen continued, “The bus drivers are not too thrilled, but they’re working quite well.”

Parents as well expressed concerns about the younger students, but after an open house was held, they have been supportive.

Mullen, who has worked at Lutcher High since 1981 and served as principal since 1988, is taking all this in stride. “It’s amazing as smooth as it is,” he added. “My fear was were we going to have the space. We’re about at full capacity.”

It’s also a little harder with communications, but “this is a minor problem, for such a massive change,” said Mullen.

Besides the opening of the new Math and Science Center, which takes 40 students in the morning and 40 others in the afternoon, the new Career and Technology Center, located behind the main Lutcher High building, comes under his wing as well.

There, high school students who do not aim at college, can learn job skills which can earn them big bucks in the regional job market, addressing local industry needs. Working in cooperation with the Louisiana Technical College, River Parishes Campus, and under the direct supervision of assistant principal Herbert Jackson, everything from industrial maintenance to keyboarding and from medical arts to culinary arts is offered here.

Some classes are proceeding, while others like the welding class are still being prepared for students. By late September, the full school should be up and running. Five major areas at the center include Pro-start, the hospitality end of the service industry; Click, computer building and repair; Allied Health, an introduction to the health fields taught by a registered nurse; Process Technology, on industrial plant operations; and Industrial Maintenance Technology, including crafts such as welding, pipefitting, metal fabrication and millwright.

“Hopefully, we’re addressing the employment needs of the area,” Jackson said.

An extra program will help link students with jobs. Terrence Jones, once a star quarterback at Tulane University, now runs the JAGS program, or Jobs for America’s Graduates.

The program itself was spawned in Delaware in 1978 and 26 states now have it, including 48 programs in Louisiana. Jones said the program covers those vital links on how to find a job, apply for a job and keep a job, including everything from resume writing to proper behavior in the work place.

“It’s long overdue in this community,” Jones said.

The center also includes a class for other teachers across a seven-parish region for teaching computer technology. The region includes Ascension, Assumption, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Mary, Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, and is taught by Laurie Roussel.

Lane Beard instructs on industrial maintenance technology, which aims to introduce students to potential careers and “give them an opportunity to be productive citizens.”

The 15 students can work toward industry base certification and earn credits to carry over at Louisiana Technical College, so they can complete training early and go right to work.

Pro-start, under Rachael Schexnaydre, will be guiding her eight chefs-to-be toward a career in the culinary arts, from their own restaurants to working at a bed-and-breakfast.

While the full center is not yet up and running, it will be fully operational later this month.