In her many years in the educational realm she wore many hats. She began her career as a Jr. High science and English teacher in East Baton Rouge Parish. She owned and operated the Baton Rouge Reading Clinic for 12 years and served in the La. Dept. of Ed. for 5 years as the Dept. Head of the Bureau of Development in the Office of Research and Development.
After retiring from St. Tammany Parish, Alta became the Asst. Superintendent of Clarke County Public schools in Athens, Ga for 1 year and served as Adjunct Professor of Education for Piedmont College, in Demorest, GA. She now has the Education Consulting Service in Covington.
In her retirement years Alta has spent many hours doing volunteer work for several nonprofit groups. She is a member of the First Baptist Church of Covington and serves as its representative on the Board of Directors of the Samaritan Center in Mandeville. She belongs to several organizations in Covington and Baron Rouge and these take a great deal of her time. She is active in the Covington Garden Club, Council on Aging of St. Tammany Parish, The Stardust Startup Factory, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at LSU, in which she serves as the Chair of the Coffee and Lagniappe Committee in Baton Rouge.
Alta keeps up with what is happening in the field of education through reading professional journals. The passion that has fueled her professional life is public education, especially literacy for all citizens wherever she may live.
A typical week day for Alta begins at 5:00am with 2 cups of strong, medium roast Community coffee and then eating a healthy breakfast which includes meds for many senior-types of ailments! She takes the time to sit and think about her blessings and thanks God for so many wonderful miracles that happen in her life daily.
She has chosen to accept that God is in control of her life and He sets her agenda for each day. She views her 81 years as a gift from Him and cherishes each one. She then decides what to do next, depending on her level of energy and mental motivation. This usually includes reading information and planning reports that may be required by the various organizations that she has chosen for personal participation.
Alta has three living children and 10 grandchildren with whom she stays in close contact even though most of them live far away from her. A son, Bill, passed away at the age of 41.
Alta’s motto for life is evident in her approach to everything she does—don’t give up; keep on keeping on; make the main thing be the main thing; hold on to your dreams; use your talents to the best of your ability to do whatever you do. She also added “Keep LOVE at the center of life—love one another and love yourself enough that you feel content with the love that you have for all people.”
When asked her favorite way to unwind Alta said, “I enjoy just driving a car to anywhere; I love to get on the open highways.” At one time she even drove a motor home with her husband. Then came the most exciting drive of her life…the opportunity to go on the Richard Petty Driving Experience at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Dale Earnhardt #8 red racing car! She made it around the track for the allotted 8 laps and averaged 111 MPH, with her top speed of 138MPH! Getting in and out of the car was her biggest challenge. There are no doors on these cars so she had to climb through the window!!
A big part of Alta’s life is her love for music. It all began as a 4 year old girl that was taken to a rodeo parade by her grandfather in downtown Baton Rouge in which the LSU band was marching. She saw all those beautiful brass horns and told her grandfather that she wanted one. In a few days he bought her a silver cornet, and she began lessons…she had to stop the lessons when she lost several of her baby teeth. As soon as her teeth came back she began playing again.
Alta was the mascot for the Istrouma High School band and continued in band throughout high school. Her major instrument became the French horn and continued to play it as a member of the LSU Tiger Band, as well as, the concert band, opera orchestra and other performing groups at college. She was also a member of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. Alta also began piano lessons at the age of 6. Her grandfather bought her a small baby grand piano. She still has all of these musical instruments and considers herself fortunate to have had a grandfather that gave her the support to have provided lessons in music which led to scholarships to attend college.
