By Malcolm Butler
If there was a Mount Rushmore of Cedar Creek influencers, Carla Colvin would be amongst them.
And Friday night in between the girls and boys varsity games at The Brickhouse, Colvin took her place among the school’s greats as she was inducted into the Cedar Creek Athletics Hall of Fame.
The long-time Creek teacher, administrator, pep squad sponsor, sometimes coach, all-the-time-encourager received a standing ovation from a large portion of the packed house in attendance.
And rightly so.
“You have these people who are just icons at Cedar Creek,” said longtime Cedar Creek teacher, coach and administrator Gene Vandenlangenberg. “When you think of Cedar Creek, you think of them. Carla is one of them. When alums come back they always ask, ‘Hey, how is Mrs. Colvin doing?’ They put Cedar Creek and Carla Colvin together. She was an encourager. She was a motivator. She had so much compassion. She was all about the kids.”
On Friday night, many of those kids-turned-adults were in attendance to share the moment with Colvin.
“It’s very humbling to be put in the same category as Wallace Martin and Donnie Barmore and Gloria Riser,” said Colvin. “Those people are people that I have always looked up to. And to be mentioned in the same breath with them as far as being a Hall of Famer is very much an honor.“
Colvin is the eighth inductee into the prestigious club at Cedar Creek. The school’s inaugural induction class included Doug Bagwell, Donnie Barmore, Jane Ellen Cook, Frankie Garcia, Steve Johnston and Wallace Martin. Gloria Riser was inducted in 2023 and now Colvin in 2024.
Colvin’s history with Cedar Creek goes back to the school’s inception. As a high school sophomore, she enrolled in the school in its inaugural year in 1970 and was part of the graduating class of 1973. After earning her degree from Louisiana Tech in 1977, she accepted a teaching position with Cedar Creek where she remained in numerous capacities until her retirement in 2017.
“I bleed green and gold,” said Colvin. “I don’t think there’s any better place that you could put your child to be cared for, nurtured, and taught the things that are really important in life. Not only the reading, writing and arithmetic … I think they get more than that at Cedar Creek.”
And Colvin was a big reason for that during her 39 years as a professional at the school, at least according to her peers.
“I think her real strength was with the kids,” said Vandenlangenberg. “She was there for those kids when they needed someone. She knew all of those kids. The amount of kids she was able to impact over all of those years is just incredible.”
During her four decades at Cedar Creek, Colvin touched about every aspect of a students possible experience at the school, including athletics.
In addition to teaching PE and middle school social studies, she assisted with varsity cheerleaders, Emerald Entertainers, and the Cougarettes pep squad. She also became the junior high cheer sponsor and then took over as sponsor for the varsity spirit groups for a number of years upon the retirement of Margaret Hall.
“She has been involved in about every aspects of the school,” said current Cedar Creek girls AD Julie Riser. “She was a part of this school such a long time. She was just somebody that everybody could relate to. I feel like she taught everyone in elementary so even as they got into high school, she had a relationship with them. Kids just gravitated towards her. She was fun. She was really the face of our school for a while. Everybody knew her, and everybody loved her.”
Colvin served as the slow pitch softball coach for several years in the early 1980s and served as the P.E. coordinator from 2003 up until her retirement in 2017. She also assisted with track and field during her tenure at Cedar Creek.
She served as the elementary cross-country coach for a long time, investing so much time with the young Cougar runners at cross-country invitationals all over north Louisiana. Colvin and Hall started the Cougar Mile in 1990, an event run at the conclusion of a week participating in the President’s Council on Physical Fitness tests. This tradition continues today for all Cedar Creek elementary students.
“I liked cross-country just because in my heart, I had a hard time saying you were better than somebody else,” said Colvin. “I liked it where you put them out there and they do their very best, and compete against their own time.”
For almost 40 years, Carla Colvin did her very best for Cedar Creek School and its students. And her efforts were rewarded with the school’s highest athletic honor.
And as much as she said she was humbled and appreciative of the honor, Colvin said the real reward was all the relationships she developed over the year.
“I love children,” said Colvin. “You know those children all in different ways hold a thread in your heart. They all have a special place in my heart. God doesn’t make junk. And his most precious thing is children. And the privilege that I had from the parents at Cedar Creek to be able to interact with their kids on a daily basis was just something that I treasure.“
