FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Rob Norton
Director of Marketing and Communications St. Martin’s Episcopal School
225 Green Acres Road
Metairie, LA 70003
O: 504.736.991
rob.norton@stmsaints.com
2016 Coatney Leadership Award recipient Happy Johnson (center) with committee members Ben Bone ’19 and Elyse Kann ’20.
St. Martin’s Coatney Award Presented to Happy Johnson Recognition of Community Leadership through Team Happy Foundation
METAIRIE, LA (April 18, 2016) As part of its annual Coatney Leadership Day, students at St. Martin’s Episcopal School awarded the 2016 Leadership Award to Happy Johnson, co-founder of Team Happy Foundation. Since its beginnings in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the foundation has supplied more than 45,000 hours of volunteer time rebuilding homes in Orleans Parish; awarded 3,000 new books to children in under-resourced families; taught 4,000 youth how to build disaster kits and become coastal restoration champions; delivered 3,000 emergency blankets to hospitals throughout Haiti; and trained 3,600 inmates on effective community re-entry.
The Leadership Award ceremony is the culmination of a student-driven process that not only increases understanding of the qualities that define a leader, but also develops leadership qualities in participating students from grades 8 through 12. A ten-student Nominating Committee forms teams to research local individuals whose positive leadership has had a substantive impact on the community. Each team prepares a presentation to students, faculty and staff who then vote to determine the recipient.
Doyle Coatney, former Acme Trucking CEO and long-time St. Martin’s community partner, established the Leadership Day in 2009. He was recognized at the ceremony for his personal involvement over the past seven years in supporting the event.
Founded in 1947, St. Martin’s is a coeducational, independent school that provides students from eight weeks through grade 12 with a superior and challenging college preparatory education focused on development of the whole person. Students and faculty embrace the school’s motto, “Faith, Scholarship and Service.” For more information, visit www.stmsaints.com.
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Rob Norton
Director of Marketing and Communications St. Martin’s Episcopal School
504.736.9913
stmsaints.com
We prepare students to thrive in college and in life.