Mark Weldon, principal of East Beauregard Elementary, has been named a 2023-2024 Louisiana Principal of the Year Semi-Finalist. He has been chosen as one of twenty-four colleagues from across the state for this honor.
The Louisiana Department of Education sponsors the Excellent Educators Award Program annually to recognize the state’s most exceptional administrators.
Those principals who are committed to creating an environment for student success, who demonstrate innovative leadership qualities, and who support teachers to help students achieve at their highest levels are considered for the program.
Weldon has been an educator for twenty-six years, serving the past eleven years as principal of East Beauregard Elementary. He started his career in education as a fourth-grade teacher at East Beauregard Elementary where he served as a Teacher Leader, was twice named the Beauregard Parish Elementary Teacher of the Year, received the KPLC Class Act award, and was named the Louisiana VFW Citizenship Educator of the Year.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education and his Masters in Educational Leadership from McNeese State University. He was a Phi Kappa Phi Honors student and a Magna Cum Laude graduate.
In 2012, he was named the principal of East Beauregard Elementary. He is a member of LAP and APEL, has twice been named the Beauregard Parish Elementary Principal of the Year, and currently serves as the President of the Beauregard Administrators Association.
Weldon has worked diligently to transform the school culture through positivity and empowering stakeholders to strive for excellence. Under his leadership, the school has a trend of being recognized as a top gains honoree.
Much of his free time over the past eleven years had been devoted to transforming the walls of his school through powerful and meaningful murals painted in the hallways and public spaces of the school.
He believes that educators are to be champions for children. He encourages his staff to grow positive relationships with the students in their classrooms through listening, laughing, and talking.
He inspires his staff to instill hope, be positive difference-makers, and help open the doors to endless possibilities for the students at the school. By encouraging positive growth mindsets and speaking words of affirmation, Weldon believes that teachers and staff set students up for success.
He expects his teachers to be creative and fun and to make learning exciting. He wants East Beauregard Elementary to be a place where students have a variety of experiences and opportunities both in the classroom and through extra-curricular activities to explore their interests and apply their skills to help them find their niche, be excited about learning, and be hopeful about their future.
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