Why he’s
In the news
With nine years of teaching under his belt, Daryl Comery has finally received his reward.
Comery has been named Donaldsonville High School teacher of the year for 2009.
He always tells his kids to never put limits on themselves.
As a native of Donaldsonville and a product of the Donaldsonville public school system, he is a working progress of achieving goals.
He recalls that his past life decisions led to his good ways.
Comery recalls the process of voting for teacher of the year.
He says that the teachers drive it and ballots are sent out and teachers nominated those who they felt worthy. Couple of weeks after, his name appeared in the top three, and then the announcement was made in December that he had won.
About his Background
He teaches Special Education classes at DHS and is in his fourth year at Donaldsonville High. Prior to DHS, Comery taught at Belle Rose Primary.
"As a man of God, my life fell in place," he notes.
He says that he had to learn how to practice what he is teaching his kids. He let's his students know that everyone will not be an athlete or a singer, but he encourages all his students to find something they are good at.
" I want them to know that there is more out there than bad things," he says.
He uses life experiences to show kids that other things exist than television and they have options.
Hobbies and other interests
Not only is Comery known for educating students during school, but he also spends time in the community by tutoring on Thursdays at Emmanuel Baptist Church, where he serves on the Youth Committee. He also coached AAU Basketball for two years.
"I try to be the male figure for the community, although he's a resident of Prairieville now, he is still active in the Donaldsonville community.
Comery recalls that he couldn't get to where he is today if it hadn't been for his mentors, who are now his co-workers.
"Coach Greg Hill, and Mrs. Richard served as my mentor growing up," he said. "With the help of Brian Richardson, I wouldn't be in this position."
In his own words
Comery says he is thankful for being teacher of the year, he enjoys when students come and say how proud they are of him and how he serves as living proof of how you can venture down the wrong path and do right and end up on top.
He says his goal now is to continue showing the kids they can be successful and trying to show that as long as they are productive and as long as they continue to put God first you will strive.
He makes mention that without his paraprofessionals Grace Vaughn, and Crystal and Travina Brooks. There help in the classroom is amazing he says.
"The peace of mind I have now, I wouldn't trade for a million bucks," he adds with a smile.
"I love these kids and Donaldsonville is where my heart is, so it is near and dear to me."

HOW TO SUBMIT Send nominations to email address editor@dvillechief.brcoxmail.com or 120 Railroad Ave., Donaldsonville, LA 70346 or fax to 225-473-4060.
 

The Donaldsonville City Council met in a special meeting to adopt two resolutions for the city.
The most popular is the half cents sales tax to be placed on the May 1 ballot. The city council has worked for several weeks to implement a plan for the city.
The half cents sales tax would be levied in perpetuity with 80 percent of the proceeds of the tax for constructing, improving, and maintaining capital improvements, and the remaining 20 percent to be dedicated for economic development.
"I feel we are unprepared and we are pushing this to meet a deadline," said Councilman Rev. Charles Brown.
Councilman Emile Spano said the economy is terrible right now. "As councilmen we should stand up and do what's right," he said. "I don't feel we have done everything possible."
After only meeting for 30 minutes, the council knew they were all having their doubts.
"I am all for the tax, but I feel as if we are rushing this, and doubts have come out," said Councilman Reginald Francis.
All councilmen raised their doubts. Council chairman Raymond Aucoin made the motion to adopt it, but no second motion was made.
The council also met to adopt to levy a 20-year-10-mills property tax for acquiring, constructing, improving, and maintaining capital improvements.
Aucoin made the motion, and once again, no second motion was made.
 

Aaron’s Furniture Store is officially open for business. Pictured are Parish President Tommy Martinez, Divisional Marketer April Aulston, General Manager Czech Jason, Mayor Leroy Sullivan, Pam Gregoire, Parish Councilman Pat Bell, Regional Manager Brock Roberts, George Rodelliat, Don Guillot, Raymond Aucoin, and Accounts Manager Demarcus Lykes.

Photo by Allison B. Hudson
 

Realizing the important link between strong families and strong communities, the Ascension Counseling Center is offering free help to west bank families in need of life skills and parenting skills.
The Strengthening Families program meets each Monday at 5 p.m. at the Ascension Counseling Center, 419 Memorial Drive, in Donaldsonville. The program, led by certified counselors, focuses on families with children ages 10-14 and offers a variety of activities for parents and children. The Strengthening Families program is free, but families must register in advance by calling O’Neal Robinson at 225-717-1994 or Margaret Smith at 225-963-0569.
Strengthening Families sessions are interactive and include discussions, games, role-playing and family projects. All activities are designed to improve parenting skills, build life skills in youth and strengthen family bonds. The program runs for seven weeks, and each family receives a certificate upon completion.
The Ascension Counseling Center offers a variety of free counseling services to Ascension Parish residents. For more information about other Ascension Counseling Center services in Donaldsonville, call 225-473-8342.
 

Donaldsonville High School Air Force Junior ROTC Cadet of the Month for December 2009 was cadet A1C Arhmand Hambrick.
His parents are Tina and Arlo Hambrick of Donaldsonville. He is in the ninth grade, 14 years old, and this is his first year of JROTC.  He is currently a member of the Color Guard, Saber Team, and Awareness Presentation Team.
 

The Downtown Development District has been working to create new ways to make Downtown Donaldsonville more successful and become more actively as a community in the revitalization process.
Danielle Doyle, Interim Director of the Downtown Development (DDD), and several DDD members went door to door, business to business the past couple of weeks to ask volunteers to participate in several interest meetings. The DDD is apart of a state program called Main Street, and for Donaldsonville to be named as one of he Main Street cities, is an honor in itself.
Main Street representatives from the State traveled to Donaldsonville last week to give several power point presentations to community volunteers on various ways to become involved for the growth of their community.
The DDD, along with state officials, set up four groups. The Promotions committee is responsible for marketing a unified, quality image of the business district. Responsibilities include: advertising, reversing negative images as it relates to downtown, and establishing and maintaining a respectful media contact.
The Designs committee is responsible for creating an attractive, coordinated, quality image of downtown by capitalizing on unique assets and heritage. Responsibilities include: analyzing parking, developing a logo, and potential landscaping and gardening.
Economic Restructuring committee is responsible for developing a strategy that improves the retail mix, stronger sales tax base, and stabilizes the economy of downtown.
The Organization committee is responsible for recruiting and developing new leadership, recruits volunteers, and helps them find assignments they will enjoy, and recruits new members to serve on boards.
Volunteers filled various meetings last week, and came up with ideas and plans to move the city of Donaldsonville forward in the upcoming years.
To find out more about the DDD or how to become a part of one of these committees, please contact Danielle Doyle at 225-323-2555 or by emailing directorddd@gmail.com.
 

Prevost Hospital, located in Donaldsonville, is expanding its emergency department. The Board of Directors of Prevost announced the expansion last Friday.
During the construction phase, the hospital will be limited to the front entrance for all services. The fire lane that is in the front of the hospital may be utilized for dropping off and picking up patients only. Vehicles must then be moved immediately. Ambulances and other transport vehicles will also use the fire lane. Fire Marshal regulations forbid blockage of all fire lanes.
This project will be ongoing for the next several months, and hospital officials are asking the community to be patient and cooperative in this process.
The outcome of the expansion will be a larger modern emergency room with private treatment rooms, a triage area, a larger waiting area for emergency patients and family members, and a covered area for loading and unloading of patients.
 

Once again, the students at Donaldsonville Primary showed the importance of giving to those in need.  In order to assist the people of Haiti, the students were given the opportunity to participate in a “dress down day.”   Many chose to dress in their black and gold to support the New Orleans Saints. 
The students were asked to contribute a minimum of $1.  However, an abundance of families went above and beyond their call of duty and donated very generously.  A total of $1,224.45 was collected.  This money will be sent to the American Red Cross.
In addition to the “dress down day,” several students made blankets to send to the children in Haiti.

 

ATLANTA – Cox Communications announced Friday that all calls placed by its residential long distance customers to Haiti will be free through Feb. 28.
The program will be retroactive to Jan. 12 and is automatic for all Cox Digital Telephone customers with Cox Long Distance. Calls to both landline and cellular telephones dialed to country code 509 are included in this program.
Last week, Cox Enterprises, the parent company of Cox Communications, created the Cox Haiti Relief Effort which consists of a media commitment in donated public service announcement air time and ad space by Cox media companies; and a $250,000 gift from the Cox Foundation split equally between the American Red Cross and CARE, as well as employee donations to the American Red Cross or CARE.
“We want to make it easier for our customers to get in touch with their friends and family members in Haiti; this is one more way that Cox can lend our support to the people of Haiti during this terrible tragedy,” said Leo Brennan, Cox’s chief operating officer. “We have set up this program so that the calls to Haiti are automatically free to our customers with Cox Long Distance; there is no action required by the customer,” said Brennan. “Every day, our employees demonstrate their commitment to the communities we serve and this program further exemplifies our commitment to Cox communities.”
The “Hope for Haiti Now” Telethon, a global benefit for earthquake relief, aired last Friday evening across a number of cable networks. Cox customers can also go online to watch the program.
 

"I'm entrusting Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy in the hands of not only my generation but generations to come," said Donaldsonville High School's African American Studies teacher Brian Richardson.
On January 18 the official holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Richardson and his African American studies class along with the River Road African American Museum held a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. march and birthday celebration at Louisiana Square Park on Railroad Avenue.
"It's a very important day to us even though we didn't live during segregated times we've been taught to know that he died fighting for what some of our parents and grandparents endured growing up," said African American Studies students Kimberley Joseph, Ashley Thomas and Ashley Cayette.
The celebration began with an opening prayer by Councilman Reverend Charles Brown. From there the director of the evening Robert Taylor, a senior at Donaldsonville High School, introduced the upcoming tributes and performances. In one way or another each act, tribute, and dedication all referenced Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a leader for change and one of the stepping stones for generations today to learn, grow, and build from. They all told the tale that without his dream, dreams today might not exist.
"This candlelight march means remembering why Dr. King died in the first place, fighting for our rights," said William Breaux, 16.
Students, city officials, church groups, and more importantly the Donaldsonville community as a whole came together in unison to remember the life of King. The candlelight march started at Louisiana Square Park and ended at Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church where there was a church service held in memory of King.
After King's death the campaign for him to have an official holiday began. 
On November 2, 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King. It was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986. We now observe on the third Monday of January each.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “I have a dream” on August 28, 1963 in front of the Lincoln Memorial. His dream led to freedom for all Americans and for all to dream without prejudice.
 

 

Josue Duperrier is not your average Donaldsonville neighbor. He is a citizen of Haiti, but has resided in the United States for the last 14 years.
Duperrier left Donaldsonville for Haiti on Jan. 8, right before the devastating earthquake that changed lives for thousands of people last Tuesday.
"It is very rough right now trying to search for family members," said Dupperier.
In a phone conversation with Josue, he recalls the exact moment when the quake hit.
"I was inside the house when it happened, after a loud boom, I quickly ran outside because I didn't know what was going on," he said.
With desperation in his voice, and loud noises all around, making it extremely hard to hear him, he still managed to give thanks to God for being alive.
When I asked him about the current conditions, he replied in a desperate voice, "we still don't have electricity, no food, no water, we have nothing at all."
He painted a vivid picture of how everyone sleeps on the streets because they are all too scared to go back in the rubble of what residents used to call home, and most do not even have tents.
Without transportation, he says he can only walk around and try and offer little help to those in need.
He is about 30 minutes from Port Au Prince, in a town called Tabarre and says his community has not seen any help as of yet.
As it became difficult to hear him, I asked what the loud noises were.
He paused for a long silence, and after a deep breath he said, "that is the bulldozers hauling bodies and dumping them at the end of the street as we speak."
He later walked away from the loud noise of machines into a different sound environment.
I could hear people crying in the background, and it seemed those who still had strength cried out for help. As I held my tears back, he said that people were still stuck in the bottom of the concrete and between damaged rubble.
"The biggest problem is that we don't have enough help or equipment to save those who are still holding on for their life," cries Josue.
In two different countries, Josue and I came up with a plan to help those in need.
"Without electricity and daily needs, its hard to survive," he added. "Don't send money, we need supplies, and helping hands."
Together we decided instead of asking for donations, we could raise money to buy necessary supplies that we take for granted until they are no longer available.
Around Donaldsonville, donation baskets have been set up for residents to help out at the River Road African American Museum, City Hall, and the Donaldsonville Chief.
If anyone would like to donate supplies, please feel free to bring them to the Donaldsonville Chief or the Chamber of Commerce office. You can also call 504-610-3292 or by email at editor@dvillechief.brcoxmail.com.
 

Ascension Parish Schools Superintendent Donald Songy will retire effective June 30, pending acceptance by the School Board during the regular meeting scheduled Tuesday for 6:30 p.m. at East Ascension High School in Gonzales.