Community

Christwood Retirement Center

Frank Lamothe holds a strong belief in giving back to the Covington community that hosts him. This deeply-felt moral obligation spurs his involvement in the Christwood Retirement Community, a continuing care organization in the area. Frank is President of the Board of Directors for the organization and a member of its Executive Committee. The Christwood Retirement Center helps seniors lead dignified, independent lives while providing all necessary physical, medical, and spiritual care.

The Hope House

Stephen Aertker is President of the Board of Directors of the Children’s Advocacy Center/Hope House. The Hope House is a non-profit organization that serves as the voice of hope, healing and awareness for the abused children of St. Tammany and Washington Parishes. Hope House partners with a team of professionals to facilitate collaborative investigations of child abuse. Additionally, Hope House provides prevention education, advocacy, and counseling for children and their families on their path to recovery.

Leadership St. Tammany

Leadership St. Tammany program is sponsored by the St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce and designed to nurture emerging community leaders and facilitate public involvement.  Participants were chosen across a broad spectrum of the community for demonstrating a personal, long-term commitment to St. Tammany and to improving the parish’s future, having a record of involvement in community affairs, being successful in their careers or vocations and showing potential for great leadership. Leadership St. Tammany entailed a dynamic weekend retreat focused around an evocative simulated society, followed nine full-day workshops spanning nine months that featured presentations, group discussions, and on-site exposure and experience to issues challenging St. Tammany Parish including:

• Arts/History/Culture/Tourism
• Education
• Social Services & Health Care
• Political Activism & the Media
• State Government and the Legislative Process
• Values-Based Leadership
• Local Government
• Economic Development & Planning & Growth Issues
• Judicial System & Law Enforcement

Louisiana State Bar Association’s Mock Trial Tournament

Stephen Aertker coaches high school students in trial advocacy in preparation for mock trial competitions, including the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Mock Trial Tournament These mock trial competitions are designed to introduce young people to the art of advocacy, supplement their knowledge of the workings of our court system and develop the skills of teamwork, critical thinking and oral presentation. Stephen’s mock trial team – comprised of students playing the roles of attorneys, principals and witnesses – competes against other high schools in a dynamic courtroom setting in which they prepare a legal case for both the prosecution and the defense and ultimately present their case before a judge and mock jury.