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CRIMSON SHIELD
THE ONLINE MAGAZINE OF BROTHER MARTIN HIGH SCHOOL |
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| April 2011 |
‹‹ Front page Next article ››
Mary Picou
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Mary Picou grew up in Thibodeaux and attended E. D. White High School, home of the Cardinals.
- Her five years there coincided with the tenure of Brother Paul Montero, S.C., as principal.
- Brother Louis Couvillon taught her religion, and Brother Linus (SA '24), math.
- She took a key step for her future when she became one of three senior girls who took physics.
Mary got her degree at Nicholls State in only three and a half years.
- "I went another three blocks from home to go to college. I lived close enough that if I forgot something, I could run home, get it, repark my car, and make class during the 10-minute break between classes."
- Bent on teaching high school, she chose a double major in science and math. "A few professors tried to talk me out of it [teaching] but I was pretty adamant that that was what I wanted to do."
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With family on her mother's side living in New Orleans and more schools in the Crescent City, she applied to the Archdiocese for a teaching position.
- Holy Angels Academy needed a math teacher for the second semester of 1977-8.
- She taught geometry and consumer math at the now defunct girls school on St. Claude Avenue.
- "As luck would have it, they figured out at the beginning of May, 'Why pay this little girl from Thibodaux when we can get a nun for free?' So I was jobless."
After going to summer school every year at Nicholls, she finally had time for a vacation. So she borrowed her daddy's car and set off for California with several pals.
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They made it to San Diego, celebrating Mary's 21st birthday in Arizona on the way. Then they went up the coast to San Francisco before heading home.
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While in Las Vegas, they each called home from a pay phone to save money on the room charges.
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It was in that phone booth that Mary learned from her hard-of-hearing mother that "Brother Maurice" had called about a position at Brother Martin.
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"Brother Maurice" turned out to be Brother Maurus, the science chairman. Since Mary was still many days from home, her mother put together her resumé, signed it, and mailed it to Brother Martin.
The travelers accelerated their trip so that Mary could interview with Brother Maurus.
- "I had to call one of my aunts to get directions on how to get here for the interview." Perhaps impressed by her listing Brother Paul Montero as a reference, Brother Maurus hired her to teach biology.
- However, in August, he called back to ask if she would switch to chemistry because he had another applicant who could teach biology but not chemistry.
- She agreed, thus opening the way for a young man named John Devlin to join the faculty.
Mary is now in her 32nd year at Brother Martin.
- She has taught chemistry far more than any other subject.
- Early on, she taught physical science and an occasional math class. She has also handled many different subjects in summer school.
- More recently, she moved to physics after spending many Saturdays at UNO getting certified in that subject. She and Dr. Ray Fricken have handled the Physics AP class since Katrina following Brother Maurus's retirement.
Based on her own participation in Speech and Debate in high school, she helped with that activity her first year.
- She soon switched to moderating the cheerleaders. "My family found that just totally wacko. Me and this one other little girl were the only ones not forced to try out for the pep squad at E. D. White, and she had cerebral palsy."
- At first, her co-moderators were Norma Gonzalez (soon to be Norma Cannizaro) and Judy Maldonado. Later, Jeanne Bandera paired with Mary.
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Mary Picou 1978
Brother Maurus, S.C. 1978
John Devlin 1978
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After many years of smooth sailing, Mary endured back-to-back challenges.
- First, Katrina inundated her home two blocks from the London Avenue Canal.
- She evacuated to Lafayette where her two sisters lived and where her mother had died a few months earlier. She didn't have to purchase an entire new wardrobe. "I was smart enough to evacuate with my dirty laundry. Instead of having just one change of clothes, I had garbage bags full of dirty clothes."
- Mary was one of only two teachers to commute from the west to the Brother Martin night school in Baton Rouge for the first semester of 2005-6.
- Since her house had shifted off its foundation, it was torn down. After many hassles with insurance companies and FEMA, her new home on the same property is nearing completion.
When Brother Martin resumed operations on Elysian Fields, nature dealt Mary another blow.
- She was teaching class the last day of the third quarter of 2006 at about 8:30. "I went to lift something up, and I couldn't. I figured I did something goofy in my shoulder."
- It took doctors nearly two years to figure out that she had a stroke. "It's not easy to be right-handed when your right hand don't work. I don't have as much feeling as I should in my right hand and arms. A lot of it ends up being compensation. So I wear the brace to allow me to write on the board because I can do that from my shoulder. When I write on a sheet of paper, I use my left hand."
Mary's competence, dedication, and perseverance earned her the Brother More Schaefer faculty award in 2008.
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