“It was probably the best decision I’ve made thus far in my life.”

That’s how Catholic High School principal, Kyle Bourque, feels about his position at the school.

After graduating from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a Bachelor of Arts in Interpersonal Communication and an Alternative Education Certification, Bourque worked in the bookstore at LSU Shreveport, eventually rising to assistant director, but he always knew something was missing.

“I always knew education is where I needed to be. I have always had this fire in me for education. I’ve always had this desire to teach, to mold the next generation, to be the best that they could be,” he said.

When he and his wife moved back to Lafayette after a few years, he reached out to Father William Blandon, currently the pastor of St. Peter’s Church in New Iberia. At the time, Blandon was serving as the pastor over Vermilion Catholic in Lafayette.

“I reached out to him saying I was interested in teaching. He asked me if I could teach biology, and I said, ‘Well actually I can,’” Bourque said.

So Bourque’s journey in education started in 2009 at Vermilion Catholic, but after only a year, he was called up for a position at Teurlings Catholic, which had an opening in biology. Bourque joined their team and soon found himself not only as the biology teacher, but also the coach of the speech and debate team as well as producing their annual musical.

He is from Kaplan, Louisiana, but his wife is from Lafayette, so they enjoyed being close to the city.

Bourque spent the “lion’s share” of his years teaching at Teurlings Catholic. He said his time at Tuerlings was instrumental to developing his own teaching style.

“I spent time at Tuerlings developing my craft as well as learning not just how to teach, but how to implement curriculum, discipline; learning more about administrative things along the way,” Bourque explained.

In 2015, he decided it was time to take the next step in his career as an educator, and pursued his master’s degree in Biological Sciences from Clemson University. He wanted to be more equipped to effectively teach students, but his enjoyment for education classes had already begun to wane.

“I knew after going through the (alternative certification) program at UL that I couldn’t spend another day listening to an educational theory class. I had already learned how to teach, it was time to move forward. I went for a Biology master’s because I wanted to have the most knowledge that I could have to teach these students, ” Bourque said.

After spending the next three years getting his master’s in Biology, the subsequent two years of teaching, Bourque believes, were some of his best.

“I have kids today that still come back to me thanking me because their high school science classes were really a breeze, because I pushed them so hard,” He said.

One of Bourque’s primary goals as an teacher is to educate the person as a whole. He wanted them to develop more than just a scientific understanding of the world, but also an appreciation for life that leads them to be a better person and a better Christian.

“Within my science classes, I always weaved the Catholic faith in. I always gave them life lessons. I always tried to connect everything that we were learning to the world around them, and I think that’s why I experienced such success when I was in the classroom,” he said.

At that same time, after receiving his master’s, Bourque started to consider an administrative position.

“I can touch the hearts of these kids in my personal classroom, but what if I could do it for the whole school,” Bourque asked. “What if I could take my ideas and help other teachers to grow and become better educators and strive to be the best that they could be?”

With a goal in mind, Bourque started applying for assistant principal positions around the area in 2019, but didn’t receive any offers until February of 2020 when he received a call from George Fontenot, principal of St. Cecilia Catholic School in Broussard. At first, Bourque thought Fontenot was asking him to apply as assistant principal, but soon learned that wasn’t the case.

“It was kind of awkward at first because he’s talking to me about applying for an administrative position and I said well I really haven’t had any experience as an administrator yet, but I’d love to have a chance to serve as assistant principal. He said, ‘No no, you are applying for my job,’” Bourque said.

Fontenot encouraged Bourque at every turn, reassuring him of the support he’d receive and the fantastic position of the school, so Bourque decided to apply. And he made it, but it wasn’t long until he faced his first major hurdle.

“I got a call from the pastor and he says, ‘We think you’re our guy,’ so I said, ‘Alright, I will gladly accept the job.’ A week later, the Governor comes over the newswaves saying we are shutting down due to Covid, and I remember thinking at that moment, ‘Kyle what in the world did you just do.’”

Not only was he stepping into a brand new role as administrator and as principal, he had to do so while navigating the turbulence of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Bourque was immediately tasked with writing the manual of St. Cecilia’s pandemic protocol. But through effective coordination and cooperation, they were able to devise an effective strategy for the school.

“I had a beautiful team that supported me to the Nth degree. They were outstanding. There were many sleepless nights. My vision was that we’d never shut down one day. Everything that we had set in place was working. The community wanted the school to survive, which made adjusting easier,” he said.

Everything was going well at St. Cecilia. They were growing again after the pandemic, their test scores were on the rise and their Academic Support Program was making progress. Then Catholic High knocked at his door.

Bourque said he stepped into the role of principal knowing what challenges it would bring, having taught at a high school for many years. He said he loved his job, holding onto his resume for a month before submitting, but he knew the time was right.

“I had a cush job. I was at an elementary school. I didn’t deal with athletics. I went home at 4:00. It was great. It was a difficult decision to make. I prayed for an entire month, and every time I would pray, it was like God was just pointing me in this direction.”

Bourque said his wife, Sally, has supported him at every step, with every new position and with every move. Bourque said, upon taking the position at Catholic High, he felt a similar wave of support from the community.

“I’ve walked into a school where the community has stood behind me so much. Anything that we need, anything that I ask, they are there to do,” he said.

According to Bourque, the last year has gone exceptionally well. He hasn’t encountered anything that brought his spirits low or tempted him to leave, and like he told The Daily Iberian when he first joined Catholic High, he doesn’t plan on going anywhere.

“It has been a glorious year and a half. I am in it for the long haul, and I stand by that. I believe we have some big hills to climb, but I want to climb them with the incredible team we have here at Catholic High,” he concluded.