Stevens wins staff support award

Ken Stevens began his 33-year career at LSMSA in the spring of 1984 teaching chemistry labs for one semester.

“The school was new, very new,” said Stevens. “The first graduating class were still juniors at the time. The school only had one chemistry teacher who was teaching all of the students. He was swamped and needed help.”

Stevens designed and ran four or five labs each week by himself.

“I somehow managed not to kill people and discovered the important lesson that some labs in the lab book should not be done,” he said.

He became an official full-time employee in August 1984 with the job title of lab technician, a position he still holds today.

His dedication to that position led to him being recognized as the 2017 Outstanding School Support Employee during the first day of in-service held Monday, Aug. 7.

“Ken Stevens consistently works behind the scenes for our science courses to provide the sort of hands-on, collegiate level lab experiences that our students enjoy,” said Dr. Kristi Key, director of academic services. “His skill set and his dedication makes our science curriculum possible in many ways.

“We are fortunate to have him here, and we are thrilled to honor him in this way.”

As the lab technician, Stevens sets up and cleans up the labs, orders materials and tries to keep the stock system organized. He has also served as a substitute teacher for labs and a few classes.

His favorite thing about working at LSMSA is the excitement and challenge of something new every week. He also points out that the people are another nice thing about being at the school.

“I am a weird ‘silly’ person at times, and the people at the school are smart enough to get the humor,” said Stevens.

Stevens earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Northwestern State University and 30+ hours in polymer science at the University of Southern Mississippi.

While working on his master’s degree at USM, an instructor/mentor of his announced in the middle of the semester that he was leaving in a couple of weeks and going into government work and that he was taking his research projects and grant money with him.

“It was not a total loss; I did learn to play D&D later that semester,” said Stevens.

When asked what hobbies he had outside of work, Stevens wanted to know if eating Cheetos in front of a television counted as a hobby. If that didn’t count, he added that he liked to read and collect odd trivia and trivia stories. He also plays chess.

The Outstanding School Support Employee Award is part of a program designed in 1990 by the Louisiana Department of Education and the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to recognize non-instructional personnel that have given of their time and talents beyond the call of duty.