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ULMMAGAZINE FALL ULMMAGAZINE FALL2017 2017
COLLEGE OF HEALTH &LEGACIES PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES
“My time as a graduate student at ULM not only prepared me to make the transition from classroom teacher to administrator, it also enabled me to continue to kindle my fire for educating myself and others.”
TWAINNA FORTNER CALHOUN PRINCIPAL AT GOOD HOPE MIDDLE SCHOOL Following a legacy of family educators, TWAINNA FORTNER CALHOUN has an over 22-year career in the Ouachita Parish School System. For the past 12 years, she has been principal of Good Hope Middle School. Twainna has also served as a classroom teacher and assistant principal. In 1999 she was honored as Teacher of the Year at A.L. Smith Elementary School and in 2006 was a finalist for Louisiana State Principal of the Year. Twainna holds memberships in several professional organizations and is certified through the National Institute of School Leadership and Louisiana Principals’ Induction Program.
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Twainna has been dedicated to elementary education since graduating from Ouachita Parish High School in 1991. She earned her Master of Administration and Supervision and 30-plus graduate hours from the University of Louisiana Monroe. “My time as a graduate student at ULM not only prepared me to make the transition from classroom teacher to administrator, it also enabled me to continue to kindle my fire
for educating myself and others,” she stated.
throughout our district.”
Her undergraduate degree in elementary education is from Grambling State University. She had the privilege of studying at Harvard University through the Southern Education Foundation. Twainna has completed 15 doctoral hours through Louisiana Education Consortium.
Along with being a general member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Twainna is a sustainer of the Monroe Junior League where she served as the education chairperson. She has served as Monroe Symphony League Book Fair volunteer, Big Brother/Big Sister Advisory Committee member and was nominated as the Quota Club Woman of the Year in 2006. Twainna is a member of Pleasant Green Baptist Church where she has served as a Sunday school and vacation Bible school teacher, is active in the S.E.E.D. ministry and is a member of the children’s ministry.
As a principal, Twainna guides her staff and students through a focus on college and career readiness. She has also made a commitment to working with ULM’s School of Education and helping to foster the educators of tomorrow through the residency program. Ouachita Parish Schools Superintendent Don Coker, Ed.D., congratulated Twainna on being selected for Legacies and praised her work in education, saying, “I am very proud of Mrs. Twainna Calhoun and her proactive approach to educating the students at Good Hope Middle School. Mrs. Calhoun has represented Ouachita Parish as the 2017 Principal of the Year and as a state finalist, she continues to be a great role model for our students, teachers and administrators
Twainna was born in Ouachita Parish to the late Wesley Fortner Jr. and Lula JoAnn Fortner. Of all things achieved in her life thus far, Twainna considers her greatest accomplishments to be her 18year marriage to Abram Calhoun Jr. and the honor of being a mother to her three daughters, Lauren, 14, and 6-year-old twins, Layla and Ava. Her family enjoys traveling, reading, and “enjoying the little things in life!” she said.