Gautier students guests on ‘Today’

By DONNA MELTON - Sun Herald

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GAUTIER — For several honor students and their teachers, Thursday will be one exciting day.

That’s when the entourage from Gautier Elementary will appear on NBC’s “Today” show. They’ll be on the “Everybody Has a Story” segment with co-hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb.

“Today” producers called fourth-grade teacher Maury Gusta on Tuesday with the good news. His letter passed all three rounds of judging and was chosen for the grand prize — an expense-paid trip to New York for him, the students in the school’s National Honor Society chapter, principal Michelle Richmond and chapter co-adviser Cynthia Vaxter.

Story: SUNHERALD TV: Gautier students headed to New York for Today Show

Their segment will air live Thursday morning and for part of the prize they’ll get an original song inspired by Gusta’s essay and sung by a surprise performer.

Gusta entered the contest last year; a few weeks ago he heard Gautier was in the running.

They started making plans for the trip, just in case.

In his letter, the 22-year-old teacher described the car accident that put him in a wheelchair during college, and how he overcame the obstacles to walk again and finish his dream of becoming an educator.

He compared his story to that of his students and how they have survived their lower socio-economic upbringing and the lingering effects of Hurricane Katrina, which wiped out their school, he said.

The students in the honor society maintain A’s and B’s, exhibit outstanding behavior and perform community service.

The Gautier Elementary National Honor Society includes students Caleb McVeay, Angie Lugo, Allera Padgett, Leonard Wells, Andrew Olsen, Ze’Lesyia Cooks, Shellie Hanshaw, Sydney Ray, Gavin Teer and Nadia Willingham.

“We don’t always hear the good stories of our children,” Vaxter said.

Gusta said the group will be decked out in their Destination Graduation! T-shirts to show the world the Pascagoula School District helps students pursue their dreams by teaching them to do their best.

Many of the students have never traveled outside the state, and none has traveled by air, Vaxter said. “This is a wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them,” she said.

The group will be back in school Friday.

Gautier Elementary has about 200 students enrolled in kindergarten through fifth grade. It is the only elementary school in the district to have a chapter of the National Honor Society.