Lisa Christ

Lisa Duplechin Christ- is a native of Eunice and a 1979 St. Edmund graduate. She received
a Bachelor of Education Degree from the University of Louisiana.  She taught school for 28 years and is currently retired.  She is married to Roderick Christ and together they have
six children and fourteen grandkids. She is happy to see four generations of her family attend St.  Edmund. Lisa’s mother, Vernell Fontenot Duplechin graduated from St.
Edmund in 1957, Lisa, Lisa’s children, and now Lisa’s grandkids. Three of her children graduated from SEH, Ceslie Habetz (2004), Meredith Himel (2007), and Anne-Marie
McGee (2009). Four grandchildren presently attend St. Ed’s, Zoie (4th grade), Mary-Katherine (3rd grade), Lillian (1st grade), and Olivia (kindergarten), and three more future Blue Jays on the way. Her fondest memories are the years her children were students at St. Ed’s watching and rooting them on at all their high school events such as cheerleading, basketball, and softball. Lisa is excited and grateful to be dancing at this year’s event; Lisa is a “Proud Blue Jay”!           

Tad Richard

Tad Richard, a native of Eunice, was destined to become a St. Edmund Blue Jay. His oldest sibling enrolled at St. Edmund in 1961, and by the time Tad started attending St. Edmund, all four of his siblings were enrolled and would eventually become Blue Jay alumni. Since graduating in 1985, he and his wife, Tricia, would return to Eunice to continue the Blue
Jay tradition. Tad taught at St. Edmund for 4 years and coached for 8 years; followed by
his wife teaching at St. Edmund for 13 years. Their 4 children would attend and eventually graduate from St. Edmund; Danielle (2010), Katie (2013), Drew (2015) and Kelli (2017), along with all 11 other grandchildren of Ira and Pat Richard. Tad, known for his skills on the football and baseball fields, said yes to dancing with the stars, not because of his rhythm or smooth moves, but out of obligation to save his siblings due to the fact that he and his sister, Nanette, are the only ones physically capable due to Ken, Scotty and Jan being on injured reserve from knee replacement surgery. His hope is that his dance
partner and first cousin, Lisa Christ, will take it easy on him and not send him to surgery as well.

Phyllis Pere

Phyllis Caswell Pere is an honorary graduate of SEH class of '66. She attended USL in Lafayette where she finished with a degree in Social Work. While working as a social
worker in Lake Charles, she met & married her husband of 48 years, John Pere. Together they have two children, Simone Pere O'Connor '94 SEH graduate and Dom Pere '98 SEH graduate.  Phyllis and John are now retired and enjoying their 9 grandchildren ranging in age from 18 years old to 2 year old twins! Phyllis recalls receiving the title of "Queen of
the Twist" back in the day of Chubby Checker's "Let's Twist Again" at her 8th grade graduation party. Dance parties were all the rage back in the '60's when we danced to
Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, The Platters and The Supremes. But the best ever was the
Record Hop held every Saturday night right here in Eunice in the National Guard Armory Building. Live music was performed by the likes of Lil' Bob and the Lollipops and Irma Thomas, and teens came from all the surrounding towns to dance. We were the "bomb"! Then came the Purple Peacock where we, again, danced to live music and of course there were weddings where we "line danced" ourselves right into the next morning. After the many years of dancing to such names as the Jitterbug, the Twist, the Hully Gully, the Jerk, the Mashed Potato and the Monkey, Phyllis looks forward to participating in DWTS Blue
Jay Style while she still can!!!

Paige Fontenot

Paige Fontenot is a 2008 St. Edmund High School graduate. She is the daughter of Dr. Bob and Toni Guillory. She graduated from LSU and received her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from the University of St. Augustine in Austin, Texas. She is married to Branson Fontenot of Vidrine and is a proud mother of two sons, Sebastian and Isom. When asked to participate in Dancing with the Stars, she was even shocked when she said “YES”. She’d like to thank her family, friends, Christain and Michaela for their support and fun times preparing for this event! “I am super excited for this opportunity to allow me to break out of my shell and be part of such an amazing and fun night while supporting our Blue Jays!”

Alicia Mire

Alicia Smith Mire grew up in Eunice attending St. Ed’s and later graduated from Eunice High in 2009. She attended LSU and completed her college education at UL obtaining her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. After Hurricane Laura, Alicia and her family returned home to Eunice. Alicia was excited to
share her passion for event planning with the city in which she grew up in and loves dearly. She is currently employed by the city of Eunice as the Director of Tourism and
Main Street Director and Event Coordinator for St. Landry Parish. In her first year she chaired city events such as Fall into Downtown, Sip & Stroll, and the Eunice Christmas Parade of Lights. Alicia also works with the Eunice Chamber of Commerce and assists
local brides as a wedding planner. Alicia has been married to Kacey Mire for seven years. Together they have three little Blue Jays, Ella (2nd grade), Mary Grace (1st grade), and William (Prek-4). Alicia enjoys volunteering her time for the St. Ed’s PTC, and says she
has always been a Blue Jay at heart and is happy for her children to experience the closeness of the Blue Jay family. She is an active member of the Eunice Rotary Club and
was their most recent recipient of the Citizen of the Year. Alicia is looking forward to digging up some old dance moves and sharing this experience with her partner, Andre Soileau.

Andre Soileau

Andre Soileau was raised in Eunice where he still resides with his wife and children. After graduating from St. Edmund in 1988, he obtained a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from Georgia Tech and a Master of Business Administration from LSU. He is the President of Gulfgate Construction in Lafayette where he has worked for the past 23 years. Andre and his outgoing wife, Beth, (past DWTS winner) have 3 sons: Jacques – SEH ’19, Philippe – EHS ’22, and Emile – SEH ’25. He enjoys all outdoor activities especially hunting and fishing with his sons and working on his property. Andre grew up listening to 80’s rock and was responsible for the popularity of Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me” at St. Ed’s High School his senior year. He has no formal dance training other than Cajun dance lessons while at LSU and later with his wife through the Cajun French Music Association. He is excited to be dancing with the talented Alicia Mire and is ready to let it rip for the Blue Jay fans. And yes, he won the bull riding belt buckle he’s wearing!

Amelia Smith

Native of Savoy, Louisiana, Amelia Smith is a graduate of St. Edmund and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Northwestern State University of Louisiana.  Amelia is married to Vidalia Alumni, Blake Smith. Their two children are proud fourth generation Blue Jays.  Amelia attributes her dance experience to Kyle Vidrine’s dance skills, Core Dance Center, Michelle’s School of Dance, St. Edmund dance team, and as Captain of LSUE
Bengal Belle dance team. She is an Art industry entrepreneur, and new owner of the upcoming business Demitasse. Her cup is always half full, and her joy is ready to share with everyone; and as always …BLUE JAY SPIRIT NEVER DIES !!

Peter Miller

Peter Miller is a 1989 St. Edmund High School graduate and a 1993 graduate of LSU with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science. After graduating college, Peter came home to St. Edmund to become a football, track, power-lifting, and tennis coach for several years. Peter now owns a construction company, SixM, which keeps him working nonstop! He
and his wife, Annie, a 1987 SEH graduate, have four kids, three of whom are now BlueJay alumni: Hank, Class of 2014, Maggie, Class of 2015, and Peter, Class of 2017. Greta, their youngest, graduates this year with the Class of 2022. Peter is excited to be a part of this year’s Dancing With the Stars; he just wonders what took them so long to ask! Although
his formal dance training is limited to LSUE Cajun dance classes in 1990 with his partner, Mrs. Flo Soileau, Pete still has a few tricks up his sleeve! His brothers and sisters have provided much constructive criticism through the years at wedding receptions and while dancing to 8 tracks on the console stereo in the living room. Even though there are no
more standing back flips in full pads with the only boy in the Boone family, Peter is
looking forward to making more memories with another Boone Blue Jay graduate, his partner Julee Boone Reed.

Payton Fontenot

Payton Young Fontenot is a 2015 St. Edmund High School graduate.  After receiving her nursing degree from McNeese State University, she moved home and married her husband, Jonathan.  They are now the proud parents of a future Blue Jay, Millie Beth.  Payton enjoys spending time with her family and friends, and she loves to support the Blue Jays in any way that she can.  Payton is honored to have been chosen as a DWTS participant and is looking forward to a fun-filled night of Blue Jay Spirit.

Andre Aguillard

Andre’ Aguillard is a 2012 graduate from St. Edmund High School. Following high school, Andre’ attended Louisiana State University and graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor’s in Petroleum Engineering. He is currently the Facility Supervisor at Pine Prairie Energy Center. Andre’ is happily married to his beautiful wife, Celeste, and currently the father to one beautiful daughter, Hazel – a future Blue Jay. He has a passion for anything LSU
sports related and absolutely loves to hunt. His professional dancing career has been nonexistent up to this point, but his attempt to dance started back at junior high parties and progressed through his college days in Baton Rouge. His signature dance is the “backwards dougie”, and he can teach all who would like to know! He looks forward to breaking it down for his alma mater and knows he and his partner, Payton, are about to rake it in for the Big Blue!