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W e d n e s d ay, Au g u s t 26, 2026
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Nine area high schools ranked in top 25 in state BY CHARLES LUSSIER
Staff writer
Three Livingston Parish high schools scored in the top 25 in the latest annual rankings from U.S. News & World Report. Making the list were: n Holden High in Holden, 14th in the state, 1,494th nationwide. n Live Oak High in Watson, 15th in the state, 1,576th nationwide. n Albany High in Albany, 20th in the state, 2,393rd nationwide. The highest-ranking non-selective, traditional school in Louisiana is Dutchtown High School in Geismar. It ranked 13th in the state and 1,469th nationwide. Its high score was driven by a 93% graduation rate and strong proficiency levels in reading, math and science, according to the latest annual rankings from U.S. News & World Report. Baton Rouge Magnet High School is the highest-ranked high school in the Baton Rouge region
and sixth statewide. The selective magnet school at 2825 Government St. is ranked 209th out of nearly 18,000 schools across the nation that were evaluated by U.S. News. It is one of nine Louisiana public schools ranked in the top 1,000 nationwide and it has performed similarly for many years previously. A total of 378 Louisiana public high schools were evaluated. Nine of the top 25 schools in Louisiana are located in the Baton Rouge region. The highest-ranked school in Louisiana was Ben Franklin High School in New Orleans, a school that ranked 53rd nationwide. U.S. News began ranking public high schools in 2007, piggybacking on the success of its annual college rankings that began in 1984. In 2010, U.S. News ceased printing its weekly news magazine, but it continues publishing its annual rankings. Here are the other public high schools in the Baton Rouge region that made U.S News’ top 25 in Lou-
isiana: n LSU Lab School in Baton Rouge, 7th in the state, 539th nationwide. n Liberty High in Baton Rouge, 12th in the state, 1,320th nationwide. n West Feliciana High in St. Francisville, 19th in the state, 2,285th nationwide. n St. Amant High, 23rd in the state, 2,519th nationwide. When it started in 2007, U.S. News was one of several entities that tried each year to divine the best high schools, using varying methods, but most of those other efforts have since stopped. To calculate this year’s list, U.S. News teamed up with North Carolina-based RTI International. RTI judged schools on a 100-point scale focusing on six factors: proficiency on state standardized tests; performance on state tests; performance of “underserved” students on those tests; graduation rates;
PHOTO BY DAVID NORMAND
Parker McEachern waves to family members before the start of the Live Oak High School graduation ceremony held in the University Center at ä See SCHOOLS, page 3G Southeastern University in Hammond on May 18.
Darlene Denstorff AROUND LIVINGSTON
Deadline set for campaign announcements Candidates running in local races for the November election have until Friday to submit a campaign announcement for publication. The statements must be 400 words or less and include candidate’s age and political party. All announcements will be edited for newspaper style and length. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, with early voting Oct. 20-27. Email statement and photo to livingston@theadvocate.com. Photos should be sent as high resolution JPG attachment.
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LIVINGSTON PARISH
Sheriff creates division as parish growth continues BY GIGI LIMAN Staff writer
In response to continued growth in Livingston Parish, the Sheriff’s Office this summer launched its first division specifically focused on traffic control. Before the five-deputy unit was created, traffic enforcement was primarily handled by road patrol deputies, who also respond to most other calls to the office. A major crash could tie up those deputies for hours, delaying response times to calls elsewhere in the parish. The new division assigns specific officers to traffic enforcement and crashes, allowing road patrol deputies to remain available for other calls. The unit’s officers will be stationed throughout the parish. “The mission of these deputies is to go out there and do what they have to do to make our roadways a safe place to travel,” Sheriff Jason Ard said. Traffic issues have risen across the parish in recent years as the population has ballooned. In 2025, 32 traffic-related fatalities were reported in Livingston
ä See SHERIFF, page 3G
Junior quarterback Michael Herrera, No. 16, hands off to sophomore running back Joseph Shavers.
PHOTOS BY CHARLES SALZER
Scrimmage gives Yellow Jackets a chance to hone skills High school football teams get two chances to go against another school before the regular season begins, their own version of preseason contests, and Denham Springs got one of those last Thursday. The Yellow Jackets Charles hosted ZachSalzer ary for their SPORTS LHSAA-sancROUNDUP tioned last Thursday, and it gave them a chance to measure themselves against one of the most successful programs in the state. On that night, the Broncos put up more points, but, in preseason, learning is the most important thing. “I’m not worried about
Senior defensive back Jeremy Johnson, No. 20, tackles Zachary quarterback William Green with junior linebacker
ä See SALZER, page 2G Aiden Ortis closing in.
2G ■ Wednesday, August 26, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate
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Kentwood powerlifter wins international title
Caedan Stearns, left, a recent graduate of Jewel Sumner, and Noah Shotwell, a graduate of Slaughter Charter School, share a laugh after each won their weight divisions at Super Heavyweight Division at the 026 IPF World Sub-Junior and Junior Classic and Equipped Powerlifting Championships in Sun City, South Africa, on Aug. 20. BY RICHARD MEEK Contributing writer
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n the eve of what became a life-changing experience, Caedan Stearns spent the day on a safari in South Africa, watching native animals such as rhinoceros, impalas, hippopotamus and a “bunch of elephants” roaming free in their natural environment, far removed from his Kentwood home. Hours later, Stearns was the king of his own jungle. On Aug. 20, the Jewel Sumner graduate and Southeastern Louisiana University freshman won the Super Heavyweight Division at the 026 IPF World Sub-Junior and Junior Classic and Equipped Powerlifting Championships in Sun City, South Africa, lifting for a combined 1,741 pounds in squat, bench press and deadlift. “I felt like I could win looking at the numbers before we started lifting,” Stearns said, noting that his qualifying total for the world championships were the tops in his division, which is for weightlifters 264 pounds and up. “We kind of felt like I was going to win but they had strong people up there,” he said. “It was real
fun.” His confidence was bolstered after the first series of reps, which were squats, perhaps Stearns’ strongest lift. His best squat was 738 pounds. “I was thinking after that first squat, I felt like I belonged here and all of the nerves went away,” he said. “My squat numbers was just higher (than competitors) and if I kept it up, I knew I could win.” Stearns followed with a 475-pound lift in the bench press, typically his weakest event. He then closed with a 585-pound dead lift for a combined total of 1,741 pounds. Those numbers were close to his targeted goals of 770 to 800 pounds in the squad, 500 to 550 pounds in the bench press and up to 650 pounds in the dead lift. During the runup to the world championships he said if he was able to reach those numbers he would have a chance to win. Stearns admitted he did not watch his numbers during the day, a tact he and his coach, Zach Kellem, agreed upon. “It was hard to believe; it’s crazy,” he said of his reaction when he was announced as the winner. “I am most proud of the ability to
SALZER
Continued from page 1G the score,” Denham Springs coach Brett Beard said. “Right now, we can’t play enough football against different opponents. Our kids just haven’t played a whole lot. That’s the nature of the beast when you graduate 41 seniors and lose some players that had started for a couple of years at pretty much every position on the field.”
PROVIDED PHOTO
Jewel Sumner High school powerlifted Caeden Stearns lifts 738 points in the squat competition during the Powerlifting America High Schools Nationals, April 16-19, in Omaha, Neb. fight (several) factors,” he said. “I came out here and did my thing.” Stearns, who is hoping to start a powerlifting club at Southeastern, said perhaps the most important lesson to come out of being a world champion is his ability to overcome adversity. Initially concerned about participating in competitive powerlifting because “the only place I had ever lifted was school,” Stearns said all of those
Although inexperience was unavoidable, the Yellow Jackets looked like a team with potential. Among the players to take note of were sophomore quarterback Devin Kinchen, wide receivers Jayven Williams and Trey Seals, and defensive backs Zack Childres and Jadarrian Clark. During the two-quarter scrimmage, Kinchen was chased around a good bit by an experienced Zachary defensive line, but he had his moments. He connected with Williams for a 20-yard gain on the Jackets first play from scrimmage, and later found Seals behind the Broncos de-
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fense for a 64-yard touchdown. Childres came up with a defensive gem on Zachary’s first series intercepting a mid-range pass on the left sideline that would have been a completion. Denham Springs didn’t attempt any field goals, but its punt team was part of the good and bad. Senior punter Luke Wilson had his first punt blocked, a play that led to a short field and a touchdown for Zachary. Things got better for Wilson on his second attempt, when he scrambled 17 yards for an undesigned first down on fourth-
different while on a safari? Upon returning home to Kentwood, his focus shifted to walking onto the Southeastern campus as a world champion, three years after being convinced by Kellem to bring powerlifting from his personal gym and ultimately the international stage. Email Richard Meek at livingston@theadvocate.com
and-10. He finally got off a punt late in the scrimmage, booming a 71-yard punt that still had a net plus-51 yards after it rolled into the end zone for a touchback. “We play 5A football in Louisiana, which is a big-time brand of football, and we just went against one of the elite teams that’s going to be standing near the end of this thing. That’s why we do this. You don’t get better playing people that are just like you.” Denham Springs next chance to play a different team comes this week with a jamboree match up at Walker on Friday.
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doubts were erased in a span of four hours in a competition halfway around the world. “This can help me overcome adversity in other areas of my life such as being in college and being in a different place and doing different things,” he said. And how did he spend the day after being crowned a world champion? Riding a 4-wheeler and why not, since 48 hours his view was far
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