Meridian Community College Social Science Instructor John Reeves has a passion for teaching.

“I became a teacher because the world makes sense to me in a classroom,” said Reeves, who was recently announced as recipient of MCC’s 2023 Humanities Teacher of the Year award.

The award is sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council and recognizes the contribution of humanities faculty at each of the state’s colleges and universities.

“I was completely shocked when I heard I’d been named Humanities Instructor of the Year. The recognition is thrilling, but it is also very humbling considering the high caliber of instructors working at MCC,” Reeves said.

A native of Illinois, Reeves grew up living there until he graduated from high school and came to the South to live and learn. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Mississippi, a Master of Arts degree in secondary education from the University of Alabama, and a Master of Sciences degree in geosciences from Mississippi State University.

“Three of my grandparents were teachers. The other was a farmer, which may explain my interest in geosciences. I have always tried to make sense of why people do what they do, and explaining that motivation to others has usually felt natural to me,” Reeves noted.

“Not understanding the reference or not getting the joke is an intense isolation that I try to break through whenever I recognize it, especially in others.”

Reeves began teaching at MCC in August 2006. He has served as the instructor for World Civilization, United States History, Introduction to Sociology, Marriage and Family, and Introduction to Social Sciences classes.

Before coming to MCC, he taught at East Mississippi Community College. He was also a Weems Community Mental Health Center therapist from 1994 to 2001.

Reeves and his wife, Aprille, have been married for 34 years; they met while students in Tuscaloosa and have been together ever since, he said.

They have a daughter, Emma, who graduated from Meridian High School and earned her degree in secondary education from the University of Southern Mississippi. She followed the family tradition and currently is an English teacher in Biloxi who is working on her master’s degree in informational technology. She and her husband, Stephen Sanford, live on the Coast.

When he’s not in the classroom, Reeves enjoys following college football, learning languages, reading histories and biographies, and following current events.