The 22th Annual LEF Teacher Awards Wednesday night recognized 16 Lafayette Parish educators whose dedication and commitment have greatly impacted the lives of their students.
The 16 finalists arrived at the Heymann Center in style, complete with limos and media interviews.
Over the past few weeks, KATC has introduced each of the finalists and shared their stories of hard work, compassion, and drive with Acadiana.
Four were rewarded for their dedication in the Elementary School, Middle School, High School, and Inspirational categories.
Meet the Top 4 winners:
Elementary School
Ellen Lejeune
1st Grade, Our Lady of Fatima
"Our job is our excuse to love others, and that's what we're doing, so I love doing it."
Middle School
Jason Muller
7th Grade
L.J. Alleman
"You know, I feel like what we do as teachers is very important, and it matters, like the students we guide each day matter. What we do is magical, and it's powerful. I'm honored to be a teacher."
High School
Karla Landry
Special Education
Comeaux High School
"I'm so excited, it's been awesome, it's been absolutely awesome!"
Inspirational
Brian Watkins
Options
St. Thomas More
![](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8611958/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1051x662+0+0/resize/1051x662!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc0%2Fea%2F9baf7cb147f2a57a6b5ec7bf30e2%2Fbrian-watkins.jpg)
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It's something that I never expected to happen to me, but it's a pretty special moment."
Congratulations to all the finalists!
For a complete list of the nominees, click here.