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→Background
==Background==
==Background==
Picard was born to Romain Picard (1908-1966) and Evangeline M. Picard (1912–1990). He grew up on the grounds of Maurice High School because his father was the principal, and the Vermilion Parish School Board provided housing as part of the compensation. As a boy, Picard often gazed into the windows of the school, and although he was still too young to attend classes, he wondered what was happening inside the building. Despite his misgivings about a career in education, Picard graduated from Maurice High School and thereafter procured a bachelor's degree in upper elementary education program at the University of Louisiana at [[Lafayette]], then Southwestern Louisiana Institute and later the University of Southwestern Louisiana. He obtained a [[Master of Arts]] degree in school administration from Sam Houston State University (then Teacher's College) in [[Huntsville, Texas|Huntsville]], [[Texas]].<re name=obit>Picard obituary, ''The [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]] News-Star,'' February 20, 2007.
Picard was born to Romain Picard (1908-1966) and Evangeline M. Picard (1912–1990). He grew up on the grounds of Maurice High School because his father was the principal, and the Vermilion Parish School Board provided housing as part of the compensation. As a boy, Picard often gazed into the windows of the school, and although he was still too young to attend classes, he wondered what was happening inside the building. Despite his misgivings about a career in education, Picard graduated from Maurice High School and thereafter procured a bachelor's degree in upper elementary education program at the University of Louisiana at [[Lafayette]], then Southwestern Louisiana Institute and later the University of Southwestern Louisiana. He obtained a [[Master of Arts]] degree in school administration from Sam Houston State University (then Teacher's College) in [[Huntsville, Texas|Huntsville]], [[Texas]].<ref name=obit>Picard obituary, ''The [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]] News-Star,'' February 20, 2007.
In 1959, Picard began his educational career as a teacher at LeBlanc Elementary School in Erath, also in Vermilion Parish. He became a teacher/coach at Maurice High School in 1962. When his father died in 1969, Picard was named principal of Maurice High School, a position that he held for the following eleven years.<ref name=obit/>
In 1959, Picard began his educational career as a teacher at LeBlanc Elementary School in Erath, also in Vermilion Parish. He became a teacher/coach at Maurice High School in 1962. When his father died in 1969, Picard was named principal of Maurice High School, a position that he held for the following eleven years.<ref name=obit/>
==Both houses of the legislature==
==Both houses of the legislature==
While he was still a principal in Vermilion Parish, Picard unseated a state House member in District 47 in the first ever nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] held in Louisiana on November 1, 1975.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://house.louisiana.gov/H_PDFdocs/HouseMembership_History_CURRENT.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2024 (Vermilion Parish)|publisher=Louisiana House of Representatives|accessdate=February 7, 2020}}</ref>
While he was still a principal in Vermilion Parish, Picard unseated a state House member in District 47 in the first ever nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] held in Louisiana on November 1, 1975.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://house.louisiana.gov/H_PDFdocs/HouseMembership_History_CURRENT.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2024 (Vermilion Parish)|publisher=Louisiana House of Representatives|accessdate=February 7, 2020}}</ref>
Services for Picard were held in St. Alphonsus [[Roman Catholic]] Church in Maurice and were broadcast on a television hookup from a nearby school to handle the overflow of mourners. Entombment was at the church mausoleum. The St. Alphonsus pastor, the Reverend O. Joseph Breaux, said that Picard's life was best portrayed in a photograph of the superintendent published on the front page of ''The Lafayette Daily Advertiser'' the day after his death. It shows Picard seated in a classroom surrounded by children, "as it must have been when [[Jesus]] gathered the little children around him. He taught as [[Jesus]] taught."
Services for Picard were held in St. Alphonsus [[Roman Catholic]] Church in Maurice and were broadcast on a television hookup from a nearby school to handle the overflow of mourners. Entombment was at the church mausoleum. The St. Alphonsus pastor, the Reverend O. Joseph Breaux, said that Picard's life was best portrayed in a photograph of the superintendent published on the front page of ''The Lafayette Daily Advertiser'' the day after his death. It shows Picard seated in a classroom surrounded by children, "as it must have been when [[Jesus]] gathered the little children around him. He taught as [[Jesus]] taught."
Walter Clyde Lee, Sr. (born 1934), the former superintendents for DeSoto and Caddo parishes, said that Picard was "the best politician I'd ever seen, and he'd chuckle and say, 'I'm not a politician. I'm a statesman.'" Lee said that he considered Picard to have been the most effective of all Louisiana superintendents. Picard was particularly known for the implementation of an [[accountability]] program that was recognized nationwide.
Walter Clyde Lee, Sr. (born 1934), the former superintendents for DeSoto and Caddo parishes, said that Picard was "the best politician I'd ever seen, and he'd chuckle and say, 'I'm not a politician. I'm a statesman.'" Lee said that he considered Picard to have been the most effective of all Louisiana superintendents. Picard was particularly known for the implementation of an [[accountability]] program that was recognized nationwide.