New Leader At Gueydan High School

GUEYDAN — Part of taking a new job is having to get used to new surroundings.
Brandy Broussard doesn’t have to worry about that.
Vermilion Parish Superintendent Jerome Puyau announced Monday that Broussard will take over as the new principal at Gueydan High School. The move will be effective Jan. 5. She will replace longtime Principal Luddy Herpin, who will be retiring.
Broussard is extremely familiar with the lay of the land in Gueydan.
Broussard has served the past two-and-a-half years as the school’s assistant principal. Prior to that, she worked as a teacher at the school for 11 years. She did her student teaching there. Preceding her professional life, Broussard was a student at Gueydan, where she graduated in 1994.
“It’s very exciting,” Broussard said Monday morning. “It’s home for me.”
The job is not a homecoming that Broussard had planned more than 20 years ago.
“I never thought I would even be a teacher here,” Broussard said, “much less the principal.
“It’s a good feeling.”
Broussard left Gueydan for a few years to attend McNeese State University in Lake Charles. She finished there in ‘98, with a B.A. in Government. After a few years, Broussard decided to take a path to education.
“When I had my first little boy,” Broussard explained, “I decided to go back to college and get certified to teach in the classroom.
“The first time I taught a lesson while I was student teaching, I knew I had found my calling.”
Broussard taught special education at Gueydan for one year and followed that with 10 years of teaching English.
“As I was teaching I worked on my master’s,” Broussard said.
Broussard completed her Masters of Education in Educational Leadership in 2010.
“I applied for assistant principal (at Gueydan),” Broussard said, “never thinking I would get it.”
She did, leading her all the way to the top spot at the school.
“I feel I am very blessed,” Broussard said. “I have always only wanted what is best for this community, school and our children.
“I told them in the interview, I only want what is best for the school, so if there is someone better, then I was OK with that.”
In the end, Broussard was the right person.
“Mrs. Brandy Broussard brings her knowledge of curriculum, building a positive school culture and strong educational leadership skills to her newly appointed position of principal of Gueydan High School,” Puyau said. “That, combined with her dedication to the welfare of the students and community of Gueydan, made her the perfect choice for this new job.
“We are confident that we have selected the best person for Gueydan High School and look forward to many years of academic success,” he added.
There will be a transition period en route to that success as Broussard becomes more acclimated with her new job.
“Any new administrator has ideas about things they would like to change,” Broussard said. “Something like that would happen very slowly and all stakeholders would be kept in mind. We will work with the faculty, staff and parents before making any of those decisions on changing anything.
“The school has been on a good path, so I don’t see any major things needing to be changed.”
Again, the faculty, staff and students have the benefit of knowing Broussard.
“Hopefully it continues as a smooth transition,” Broussard said. “There’s four high school teachers still on the staff from when I came here (as a student). When I started (as a teacher), almost the entire staff is still here.”
There’s definitely one student who will have a close eye on the transition, Broussard’s son Spencer, who is a freshman at Gueydan.
“I hope it’s going to be good,” Broussard said with a laugh of how her son is handling her being principal. “Moms are always worried about those kind of things.
“He’s excited about it.”
So is mom.
“This really has been wonderful,” Broussard said.