Regena Beard, STEM advocate, honored as Louisiana Teacher of the Year

ZACHARY, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — Copper Mill Elementary School science teacher and LSU Shreveport (LSUS) master’s graduate Regena Hartley Beard is Louisiana’s Teacher of the Year.

Eleven years ago, her principal gave her a challenge, presented as an opportunity. To teach something she had no experience in.

“I had never touched a robot in my life. I liked how my principal worded that – ‘an opportunity – but he was right, it changed my career path. I’m super grateful for that opportunity, even if I didn’t think it was one at the time,” said Beard.

Beard currently teaches a sixth-grade robotics class and integrates Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) with computer science into her fifth-grade science class, which earned her the 2026 Louisiana Teacher of the Year Award and the Mercedes-Benz that comes with it.

Beard, who started coding and robotics clubs at her school, was taken aback by the award.

“It still hasn’t sunk in, and I’m super proud just to have been nominated. To know that my peers thought that highly of me, and to keep advancing round after round in a state with thousands of brilliant educators, it’s amazing to be recognized in that way.”

After 21 years in the Zachary Community School District, Beard believes that exposure to STEM should start early.

“I’ll use my son as an example – he had options to take band and choir in elementary school, and he’s still in the band today. STEM is our future, and if we’re not exposing our students to STEM at younger ages, they are missing out. This kind of exposure gives them more opportunity to expand their view of the world when they are younger. Maybe it’s not for them, but they need to know what’s out there.”

Beard is also involved in district and state advisory panels that prepare guides to integrate computer science into their lessons, and was nominated for a Presidential Award for Excellence in 2022. That nomination pushed her to return to school for her Master’s Degree.

“Being a state finalist for the Presidential Award made me think that maybe I can go somewhere with this, to have people believe in me on a national level. Without that nomination, I don’t think I would have stepped outside of my comfort zone.”

Beard graduated from LSUS in 2023 and won a Presidential Award for Excellence in January 2025. When her time in the classroom is over, she wants to continue helping other teachers with similar implementation.