2019 Alumni Hall of Fame
On Friday, October 18, 2019 PBS inducted five new members to the Alumni Eagle Hall of Fame. We are honored to have these alumni representing PBS in their communities.
The Alumni Eagle Hall of Fame Award in Abundant Life is given to an alumnus who exemplifies a Christ-centered life and is considered an example and inspiration to all those around them. This year’s recipient is Cherith Vince Craft.
Cherith (Vince) Craft entered Parkview in the 8th grade along with her 3 siblings. She participated in choir, theater and was part of the worship team in high school. Because of the opportunities to live out and grow in her faith as a student, she credits her time at Parkview as some of the most spiritually impactful. She graduated from Parkview in 2000. After high school she attended Louisiana State University and completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science. Although she planned to attend veterinary school God had a different path for her life. She married Brandon Craft in 2004 and hoped to be on the mission field. Realizing that God had in mind for them to start a family and a business instead she learned again that His plan is far better than hers and she has been yielding her life’s plans ever since.
In 2016 the Crafts felt the call to become foster parents in order to serve the community and have a family ministry. To date they have fostered 5 children.
Cherith felt the Lord leading them to do more in 2018 and became a volunteer foster care advocate with The Forgotten Initiative serving Baton Rouge’s Department of Children and Family Services. She works to bridge the needs of the foster care community with the church and does this by bringing awareness, offering encouragement to those in the trenches (foster parents and agency workers) and does so through her role as an advocate encouraging others to move to action.
She’s continually looking for churches and businesses to partner with her and even uses her own interior design business to further these efforts, delivering secondhand furniture to parents looking to reunite with their children in foster care. Cherith has dreams to one day see every family in the church serving and caring for another vulnerable family in the community thus ending the need for foster care. It’s a lofty goal but with God all things are possible.
Click Here To Read More About Cherith’s Work With ‘The Forgotten Initiative’
The Alumni Eagle Hall of Fame Award in Academics is given to an alumnus who has excelled in academics, either as a student or teacher, or significantly contributed to the academic development in their community. This year’s recipient is Dr. Kathleen Bergeron Levingston.
Kathleen Bergeron Levingston attended Parkview from Kindergarten to 12th grade. She was one of the valedictorians of her 1996 graduation class and voted Most Likely to Succeed by her senior class. In 2004, she obtained her doctorate in Counselor Education from the University of New Orleans. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor and has worked in the mental health field for over 18 years specializing in counseling children, adolescents, and their families. In August, she was promoted to be the Faculty Support and Development Coordinator for over 100 faculty members in the School of Counseling program at Walden University. Kathleen has 11 publications and over 70 local, national, and international presentations. She has supervised over 50 professionals in becoming Licensed Professional Counselors and is a founding member of a study abroad program in Italy for the past 10 years.
While at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, she was the inaugural director for the Military Connection Center where she coordinated the services for 6,000 active duty military, veterans, and military affiliated students. During her time as the director, ODU was awarded the title of #14 “Best for Vets” college in the country. She was nominated by the Governor of Virginia to serve on the Veterans Services Foundation. She also served as a Co-PI for two Department of Defense military funded grants for a combined 5 million dollars to supervise military connected counselors in the local public schools and provide professional development for teachers and administrators on military lifestyles. In April 2012, Dr. Jill Biden visited one of the local public schools to highlight the work as a best practice in the Joining Forces campaign.
Kathleen’s husband recently retired after serving 22 years as a US Naval Officer, so the Levingston family proudly calls Louisiana home again. She credits Parkview for laying the foundation for her to grow and thrive as an advocate and counselor educator.
The Alumni Eagle Hall of Fame Award in Arts is given to an alumnus who has excelled in the arts and has significantly impacted other individuals and their community to excel in the arts. This year’s recipient is Rachel Cannon.
Rachel Cannon is a graduate of the Class of 1997. She attended Louisiana State University and earned a degree in Interior Design, with a minor in Art History. She founded her interior design firm, Rachel Cannon Limited Interiors in 2009, and has grown her business to include clients not only in and around Baton Rouge, but in California, Minnesota, Texas, and Florida. Widely recognized by the national interior design community for her business acumen, Rachel recently added business consulting to her resume, offering private consulting to other entrepreneurs in creative industries. Her work has been published in national magazines, such as Traditional Home, Classic Home, and Southern Style. She most recently launched Loudmouth Introvert, a podcast for helping creative, introverted entrepreneurs thrive in business and at home. Rachel credits her success to her faith in God, and her unwavering trust that He orders all of her steps in life.
Click Here To Learn More About Rachel
The Alumni Eagle Hall of Fame Award in Athletics is given to an alumnus who has excelled in athletics, either as an athlete or coach, or significantly contributed to athletics in their community. This year’s recipient is William Shon Robsinson.
William (Shon) Robinson attended Parkview from 1994-1998 where he started varsity basketball all four years. He played on the 1996 State Runner-Up Team and the 1997 and 1998 State Championship Teams. After High School, he earned a scholarship to attend Northeastern A&M College where he first earned an Associate Degree. Shon then moved on to Baylor University for one year followed by Northeastern State University. While at NSU, Shon started on the basketball team for 2 years. In 2003, he led the team to the Division II National Championship scoring 27 points in the championship game. Shon graduated from NSU with a bachelor’s degree in management information systems and played on various basketball travel teams before returning home.
Once home, Shon began doing electric work with his grandfather’s company and began coaching basketball during the summertime. He was Assistant Coach at Christian Life Academy for two years, winning a state championship in 2007 and state runner up in 2008. He coached basketball at Capitol High School for one year and then returned to his roots at Parkview. Shon began coaching Middle School basketball and then moved to High School where he currently serves as an Assistant Coach alongside his high school teammate, Jermaine Williams.
Shon currently resides in Baton Rouge with his wife and three daughters. He started his own electric company, WLR Electric. His family attends Mount Zion First Baptist Church. Shon would like to thank Parkview’s staff and Administration for being a blessing to his life. He would also like to give a special thanks to Coach Don Green and his basketball brothers.
This year, we would like to continue the Isaiah 40:31 Award. This is a posthumous award that is given to an alum who exemplified Isaiah 40:31 throughout their life. This year’s recipient is Kelli Richmond.
Kelli Leigh Richmond was born January 8, 1982 in Baton Rouge Louisiana. She entered preschool at St. Jean Vianney in 1985, at the age of 3. In 1988 she started at Shenandoah elementary and completed through the fifth grade there. She then went on to Sherwood Middle Magnet, in 1993, where she was an honor student, cheerleader, and on the dance team. In 1996, she began her high school career at Parkview Baptist School. While at Parkview she was a member of the National Honor Society, a silver stepper, and she was also a part of various other clubs and organizations throughout those 4 years. Kelli graduated from Parkview in the class of 2000 and went on to receive her bachelor’s degree, at LSU, where she studied Mass Communications and Public Relations.
After graduating from LSU Kelli, and a group of friends from Parkview, decided to move to Los Angeles to follow their dreams. Kelli was eager to enter into the fashion world and landed a PR spot for LF Clothing where she helped organize events, press releases and styled clients. She continued this for over a year but was somewhat homesick, so she came back to Louisiana and transferred to LF in New Orleans. Unfortunately hurricane Katrina hit shortly after that, so she took this as a sign to try L.A. one more time. She stayed there for another 2 years and decided to come home for good in 2007. In 2008 Kelli wanted to pursue employment with a non-profit organization and was quickly chosen to be the Development Manager for the ALS Foundation, Louisiana/Mississippi Chapter. She absolutely loved this work, loved her clients, and their families, and was very good at what she did! She made many friends working in this capacity and people automatically could feel her love and compassion. Sadly, in October of 2009, Kelli became very ill and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of 27. She fought this disease for over 2 years, but on May 1, 2012 she made peace with the fact that it was her time to go home to Jesus and that evening she did just that. She will always be remembered for lending a helping hand, her beautiful and contagious smile, loyalty and zest for life. She always lived life to the fullest; having fun and loving time with friends and family.
Kelli’s legacy lives on today through Kelli’s Kloset which provides free clothing and accessories for all women cancer patients, their kids and any kids battling cancer.
Click Here To Learn More About Kelli’s Kloset
