Southeast Lauderdale High School’s Kenny Watson, who teaches law and public safety, has been chosen as Mississippi’s Third Congressional District’s Rural Teacher of the Year honoree.

On Tuesday, district and school administrators surprised Watson with news of his selection as his wife and three young children watched in excitement.

Watson, a former arson investigator with the City of Meridian Fire Department, joined the teaching staff at Southeast for the 2019-20 school year. 

“I took a chance on teaching,” he said of his move to the classroom, “and I love it.”

Law and public safety is a two-year vocational class for students interested in becoming fire fighters, police officers, EMTs and other jobs in law and public safety.

Watson is known for going the extra mile for his students, said Rob Smith, career and technical education director for the Lauderdale County School District.

“He always goes above and beyond for his students,” Smith said. “Teaching the curriculum is one thing but adding in all of the extra things he does that allow students to prepare for the workforce and to become leaders sets him apart.”

Not only is Watson currently teaching his students EMT training, but he and several of them will become certified by the time the class is over.

In addition, his class last fall was one of only five in the nation chosen to participate in a 12-week sex trafficking course held in conjunction with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Department. 

He also has secured an old fire truck for the school so his students can practice pulling hose lines and spraying water, encouraged his students to participate in donation drives for the homeless, and taken his students to help elderly residents clean up after storms.

“I try to get them the most real world applicable experience so they will know if this is what they want to do,” Watson said.

Established in 2021 by the Program for Research and Evaluation for Public Schools, or PREPS, the Rural Teacher of the Year award is designed to celebrate educators who show a passion for teaching, learning and making a difference in smaller schools and communities.

An educator is chosen from each of Mississippi’s four congressional districts for the award. Then, they advance to compete for the honor of Mississippi Rural Teacher of the Year, which should be announced this spring.