Dream Teachers Calls for Nominations!

About The award

In honor of the late Norman Saurage, longtime Chairman of the Board for Community Coffee, Dream Teachers will recognize a Louisiana teacher for outstanding service to the community. The Saurage family and the Community Coffee Company have been active advocates for public education in Louisiana for over 40 years.

The H. Norman Saurage III Service Award will go to a Louisiana public school teacher who has demonstrated outstanding instructional skills and made an exceptional personal contribution outside of the classroom to student enrichment, professional leadership, or community service. The award can recognize the achievement of a single outstanding event or continuous dedicated service over a period of time.

The Award

ELIGIBILITY

Louisiana public school teachers with a minimum of one year of service may be nominated. Teachers previously nominated may be re-nominated for subsequent years.

Activities may include:

  • After-school tutoring

  • Coordinating charity events or fundraising events

  • Represents the school at community events

  • Organizes and or leads school clubs

  • Performs professional development programs

  • Demonstrates leadership in professional organizations

  • Serves on a non-profit board

  • Volunteers with charitable or non-profit organizations

  • Volunteers during the summer

  • Does home visits or other out-of-school initiatives

  • Initiated new programs or special events

  • Serving as an inspiration to others

NOMINATIONS

Please click the NOMINATE button above to access the nomination form. Peers, parents, principals, superintendents, organizations, or anyone who has knowledge of a teacher who has made significant community service contributions may nominate a teacher. Thoughtfully describe the activities and reasons your nominee should be selected. Your nominee will be asked to complete a formal application.

Applications will be accepted for 2025 until June 7, 2025.

The award recipient will be recognized at the 19th Annual Cecil J. Picard Educator Excellence Awards on July 26, 2025.  The recipient will receive a cash award, and a portion of the cash prize will be dedicated to supporting their continued extracurricular activities.

H. Norman Saurage III

Service Award Winners

jeff polito

Fontainebleau High School

Fontainebleau High School Theater Teacher Wins Prestigious Dream Teachers H. Norman Saurage III Service Award

25-year educator recognized for exceptional community service and youth leadership development

MANDEVILLE, LA — July 23, 2025

Jeffery Polito, a Talented Theatre teacher at Fontainebleau High School in Mandeville, has been selected as the recipient of the H. Norman Saurage III Service Award, presented annually by Dream Teachers to recognize a Louisiana public school teacher who demonstrates exceptional service both inside and outside the classroom. Polito was chosen for his 25 years of dedicated teaching and his transformative leadership in youth development and community service throughout St. Tammany Parish.

The H. Norman Saurage III Service Award, established to honor the late President/CEO of the Community Coffee Company, recognizes Louisiana public school teachers who make significant impacts on students, schools, and the broader community through activities such as after-school tutoring, organizing charity events, and leading community initiatives. The award recognizes educators whose outstanding achievements and ongoing dedication inspire others and exemplify the spirit of community service and educational excellence.

Polito has served as Executive Director of Action Youth and Community Resources, a secular youth organization dedicated to preventing drug and alcohol use, promoting leadership development, and fostering positive youth engagement. Under his leadership, the organization has expanded its reach and impact, serving thousands of students across St. Tammany Parish through programs including the Positive Action/Positive Attitude Summer Leadership Camp, Action Troupe peer leadership initiatives, and community service partnerships with organizations such as Keep Mandeville Beautiful, Habitat for Humanity, and Miracle League Northshore. He has also developed Action Academy and Leadership Academy, one-day leadership development programs for elementary through junior high students, and coordinates "Dinner and Conversation," a community-building initiative.

"Jeff Polito represents the very best of what we hope to recognize with the H. Norman Saurage III Service Award," said Wes Watts, former Louisiana State Superintendent of the Year and Dream Teachers board chair. "His sustained commitment to youth development, his innovative approach to leadership training, and his ability to create lasting positive change in both individual students and the broader community make him an exceptional choice for this honor."

Reflecting on his motivation for community service, Polito shared, "When my mother was 15 years old, her mother and brother were killed by a drunk driver. That shaped her life and, by extension, mine. When I was introduced to Action and PA camp back in 2002, I found my people. The longer I spend teaching, the more I see the need for such work with our youth. I continue to train our youth leaders because, by helping them grow, I am also helping myself."

Polito has taught Talented Theatre at Fontainebleau High School for 20 years, working with four levels of theatre students and collaborating as part of a team to produce three major productions annually. He also serves as an adjunct lecturer at Southeastern Louisiana University, teaching courses in public speaking, introduction to theater, and script analysis. His assistant principal, Mary Priebe, describes him as "an exceptional educator who holds his students to high standards" and calls him "the best of the best" for his leadership and organizational strategies.

The award ceremony will take place on July 26, 2025, at the World War II Museum in New Orleans during the 19th Annual Cecil J. Picard Educator Excellence Awards Gala. The event, held in partnership with the Louisiana Department of Education and the Louisiana Association of Principals, annually honors Louisiana's most exceptional educators. For more information about Dream Teachers and their programs, visit DreamTeachers.org.

About Fontainebleau High School

Fontainebleau High School, located in Mandeville, Louisiana, serves students in grades 9 through 12 as part of the St. Tammany Parish School District. The school features a 505-seat auditorium and offers comprehensive academic and arts programs, including the Talented Arts Program that has served students throughout the parish for over two decades.

KYLIE STEWART

LEBLANC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

VERMILLION PARISH SCHOOLS

The H. Norman Saurage III Service Award was created in 2015 by Dream Teachers to honor the late CEO of Community Coffee Company for his unwavering commitment to education and his tireless efforts to recognize educators. Every winner of the award has demonstrated extraordinary achievement in either a single, major event or has had significant impact on their community over time. Kelly is an exceptional example of the latter.

“Throughout my professional career, volunteering has been and is my favorite service-oriented activity outside of the classroom. I was introduced to volunteering through a friend and former co-worker, Chris Dardar, in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, who asked me to help with a booth for Festival International de Louisiane. This past year was my seventeenth year to do so. That festival was a catalyst for my enthusiasm and passion for volunteering today. In 2012, former Governor Bobby Jindal cut CODOFIL’s budget by $100,000. I, along with other supporters, helped to raise $90,000 to offset that budget cut through a grassroots effort and benefit concert/food sale, Lâche Pas, in which I helped to make a plethora of fried shrimp poboys. A shooting tragedy at our local theater back in 2015, claiming the life of a local business woman/acquaintance, Jillian Johnson, further drove me to do more than just help with a booth. Her motto was “Do Good Work”. It propelled me to step up and do more than just show up. I have been the volunteer coordinator for Festivals Acadiens et Creoles since 2015. In 2019, our local Rotary club donated to French Immersion and for the first time, I realized I had not been active in the district in which I reside. I helped to create and joined the Rotary Satellite Club of Vermilion After Hours Club, helping others to give back to our parish and world during hours which suit our work schedules. In the 2021-2022 year, I served as treasurer. Related to school and outside of school hours, I have been a judge and served as co-chair for my school’s 4-H Club at two different schools, Eaton Park Elementary and recently, LeBlanc Elementary, where our students placed third in the district in 2019  for Outstanding 4-H Club, their first time ever. I am currently co- chairperson of membership with Louisiana Parents for French Immersion, a group which promotes and lobbies to improve French Immersion for the state of Louisiana. I have also had the pleasure and opportunity to promote French Immersion with my students walking in the Omelette Festival Parade in Abbeville, Louisiana. Previously, the organization has bused students in from Lafayette Parish to perform in French.  In everything I do and have done, my goal has been to get French Immersion started and thriving in our school district. Since this achievement, I use every opportunity and platform that I have to promote our school culture and French Immersion. Our students have been invited to perform at festivals and for local service-oriented groups. The Abbeville Woman’s Club and Abbeville Rotary Clubs have come to our school to participate in activities with our immersion students. Within the last few years, our school took on successfully launching two initiatives: French Immersion and Leader in Me. Our Leader in Me Culture and Leadership Day invited dignitaries and community members from around the state and nearby towns to come to our school and be immersed in our school culture; to witness and be a part of not only students taking leadership roles but also students outside of immersion being a part of the French culture through art and music.”

Kristin A. Robair

Broadmoor High School,

East Baton Rouge Parish Schools


Kristin Robair was named by Dream Teachers as the 2019 H. Norman Saurage III Service Award winner on July 19th at the 13th Annual Cecil J. Picard Educator Excellence Awards in Baton Rouge. Pictured with Ms. Robair are three finalists: Kelly Paquin, Prairie Primary School, Ascension Parish; Casey McMann, Belle Chasse High School, Plaquemines Parish; and Mark Ebarb, Dutchtown High School, Ascension Parish. Three Saurage family members, Donna Saurage, Matt Saurage, and Hank Saurage, presented the award created in honor of the late CEO of Community Coffee Company.

Ms. Robair teaches English, History, and Mass Communications at Broadmoor High School. She is the 2019-2020 East Baton Rouge Parish Middle School Teacher of the Year and was Broadmoor Middle School’s Teacher of the Year in 2018.

Kristin’s “community” extends into five parishes where she is engaged in projects aligned with education, nutrition, fitness, and political awareness. She volunteers and/or spearheads projects in East Baton Rouge, Orleans, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington parishes. Her volunteerism is as diverse as it is prolific. To broadly summarize, she is engaged in charitable walks and 5K runs that benefit different causes; she participates in clean-up and beautification projects in all 5 parishes; she is engaged in fundraising for school athletics and feeding the homeless; she assists with the American Heart Association Luncheon; creates awareness of domestic violence through the Purple Box Project; hosts ACT Prep Workshops and mentors students for testing; she is engaged in Read Across America; and she assists with Voter Registration drives in multiple parishes. Ms. Robair selected City Year as her charitable cause.

JENNIFER MORRIL

DUTCHTOWN HIGH SCHOOL

ASCENSION PARISH

“Dutchtown High’s philosophy is simple: Every Griffin! This philosophy means they support all students, not just the students who are easy to teach.  Jennifer Morrill takes this philosophy to heart and fights for every student she encounters, including students who struggle and often fall through the cracks of our educational system. She advocates with such passion and heart for students who need someone to fight for them.  Her drive to help students who need someone has profoundly impacted our family.”  - Jennifer Boardelon