Supporting schools and education is one of the single most important things a community business can do to help further learning among our students and secure a community's future.  That's according to Community Coffee Company President Matt Saurage, the featured speaker at the second speaker series event November 17 sponsored by Partners In Education and the East Baton Rouge Parish School System.  The luncheon was held at D'Jon's Restaurant.

“There is no more important job today than that of school teachers,” Saurage told the group of educators and business leaders.  “We are really in awe of what teachers do and what administrators allow them to do – to really teach our children.  Anyone who has helped a child with math, helped a child tie his shoe or roused them out of bed for school in the morning, has thought the same thing,  ‘thank God for teachers.’  It’s the hardest job anyone can do.”

Getting involved in schools helps students learn.  It's the bottom line.  Community Coffee Company gave Volunteers In Public Schools (VIPS) a $10,000 grant and a total of $40,000 to 41 area public schools from its Community Cash for Schools Program last year.  The funds were used for field trips, books and special programs -- like a learning garden at Melrose Elementary School.

“As a company grows, it’s apparent you can do more with resources and make a difference in your local community,” Saurage said.  “You have a responsibility to and ownership of it.  And, as my father Norman often says, the fun is in the doing and in the results.”

At the event were (left to right):  Linda Gaspard of Volunteers In Public Schools’ Board and ReMax First, School Board member Jill Dyason, Community Coffee Company President Matt Saurage, School Board member Greg Baldwin, School Board President Jerry Arbour, Volunteers In Public Schools Board member Donna Saurage, Community Coffee Company Board Chair Norman Saurage, Michelle Carriere of the Volunteers In Public Schools’ Board and Capital One Bank, Westdale Heights Academic Magnet School Principal Cheryl Singer and Melrose Elementary School Principal Cathy Greenwood.