Rocco stopped by one last time in 2025 for Foodie Friday, and he didn’t come empty-handed. He brought the comfort food—gumbo and soup—along with a few laughs and some serious kitchen wisdom. Rocco also shared the not-so-secret secret to a great gumbo: patience, quality ingredients, and letting the roux do the talking. A perfect send-off for the year and a reminder that good food always brings people together.

JCFA Baton Rouge is only six months old, but it already fills a critical need in the Capital Region. The charter school opened on the BRCC Automotive Campus on Lobdell, giving students an easy path to dual enrollment and continued education. Chief Academic Officer Shalonda Simoneaux, a 30-year educator and retired EBR schools leader, says the mission is simple: keep students on track to earn a high school diploma.

Youth Force NOLA steps into a critical space as schools across Louisiana shift toward stronger workforce development. Co-founder and president Kate Swinburne says the organization launched in 2015 to solve two big problems. Students felt unprepared for life after high school. Businesses struggled to find skilled talent. Youth Force NOLA now works as the matchmaker between motivated young people and the employers who need them.

New Orleans has spent 20 years rebuilding its public school system, and the results continue to draw national attention. Dana Peterson, CEO of New Schools for New Orleans and former leader of the Recovery School District (RSD), joined the conversation to explain how the city changed and why those changes still matter.

Broadcasting live from the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools Annual Conference, we welcomed “Boss Lady” Caroline Roemer. She joined the show with energy and optimism. She said the conference thrives because the charter school community comes together. Leaders share challenges. They swap solutions. They support one another in a tough education landscape.

Louisiana gained national attention this year after the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) ranked the state #4 on its 2025 “Judicial Hellholes” report—a slight improvement from years when Louisiana topped the list, but still a warning sign for the state’s legal climate. ATRA President Tiger Joyce joined the conversation to outline why Louisiana remains a hotspot and what reforms could shift the state off the list entirely.

Sharon Clark, a BESE member and longtime education leader, joined the Louisiana Public Charter Schools Conference to talk about the rapid growth of charter schools. She says autonomy sits at the center of that success. Schools can tailor learning environments to students and communities. Parents also gain the power to choose what works best for their children.

Truancy remains one of Louisiana’s toughest education challenges. Many parents assume charter schools avoid this problem because families choose them. But Tony Cain of the Louisiana Truancy Task Force says that belief is wrong. He explains that charter schools are public schools. They enroll students with the same complex needs found in traditional campuses.

The Academy of Collaborative Education, known as ACE, is redefining how students on the autism spectrum learn and thrive. Executive Director Joellen Freeman joined Talk 107.3 to explain the school’s unique model. Freeman has worked as a speech and language pathologist for more than 30 years. She helped launch ACE after witnessing the challenges her patient, Ace Cannon, faced in traditional school settings.

Louisiana stands on the brink of a massive economic opportunity—but also a massive economic loss. That was the message from Tim Johnson of the TJC Group, who joined the conversation to break down the growing divide over carbon capture and sequestration (CCUS) and the flood of outside money influencing the debate.