LAPLACE — Acadia Reynolds was the type of girl who would arrange her stuffed animals into a classroom setting and assign them all homework.

That youthful passion has turned into a burgeoning career as the 24-year-old was recently recognized as her university’s top senior teaching student with the Abraham Lincoln Civic Engagement Award.

Reynolds is now a Student Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois, honored for her leadership and service in the pursuit of the betterment of humanity and for overall excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities.

Reynolds is a student at McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill.

She can trace her love of education back, in part, to St. John the Baptist Parish, where she lived and attended school between third and eighth grades.

“Garyville Magnet and LaPlace Elementary both had really strong principals when I was there,” Reynolds said. “They were both really inspiring women, so I always really respected my teachers and administrators at both of those schools.”

Her success also earned the attention of St. John Parish President Natalie Robottom, who recognized Reynolds for her achievement.

“It is with great pleasure that we recognize her and continue to support her in her future endeavors as a shining star from St. John the Baptist Parish,” Robottom said.

Reynolds’ mother, Catherine Luminais Reynolds, and aunt, Councilwoman Julia Remondet, still live in Reserve.

Remondet said Reynolds always joined school activities as a student, often displaying an ability to lead and turn any activity into a learning experience.

“We feel this award is a testament to her dedication to her education and university,” Remondet said.

Reynolds’ father, Robert Reynolds, lives in Montana, and works in technology integration for public schools.

She joked they never have time to catch up as father and daughter because their conversations always revolve around talking shop.

“Especially right now in the last leg of getting my teaching license, I am in the grind, teaching fulltime,” Reynolds said. “Even though I have a teacher supporting me, I am essentially teaching fulltime without pay to finish up this license, so I am calling him all the time, asking him about behavior management, lesson plans and just making sure I am doing the right technical stuff.”

She was named a Newman Civic Fellow, one of 201 student leaders chosen by the Campus Compact, a coalition of 1,100 college and university presidents in 2015.

She was also selected for the university’s Student Hall of Fame as a sophomore.

“I would like to encourage high school students to seek out experiences and opportunities which they could both travel and learn simultaneously,” Reynolds said. “Not only will the experience incredibly widen your world of you and potential educational Avenues, but it will also bring them a chance to understand themselves and their own culture on a deeper level.”

As a Young Feminists president, she has coordinated events to promote awareness of domestic and sexual violence.

Reynolds said there are many interesting schools in the St. Louis area, which is near her university, and she hopes to teach in the region fulltime after graduation.

Ideally, she is looking for an environment that provides a foundation for how she wants to run a classroom and back an education style she supports and endorses.

A return to school for masters degree work is also possible.

“I hope to teach in areas that need it,” Reynolds said.

“I am hoping, someday, to get into policy, maybe school board. I don’t know where I could go. My dad and my mom think I could go into politics. I don’t know if I have the backbone for it.”