Monday night was one of those dates.

Each year at the September meeting of the Scotland County Board of Education we honor our teachers of the year and our principal of the year for their hard work, dedication and commitment to the young people of Scotland County. And each year it proves to be an uplifting, inspirational event for all those involved and it reaffirms a fact for me - that Scotland County Schools is the home of the best educators you will find anywhere.

This year was no different. We honored 19 teachers as their school’s teacher of the year and honored Pat Gates as the district’s principal of the year. At the end of the night, Scotland County’s Teacher of the Year was named, with the distinction going to Amber Watkins, a social studies teacher at the Scotland Early College High School (SEarCH).

“Amber Watkins is probably one of the most dynamic teachers I have ever seen in the classroom,” said SEarCH Principal Billy Storms. “I think teaching is an art form, and when you walk into her classroom, you see an artist at work.

"The students are truly engaged the whole time and she is just a great person in general and it is just an honor to have her at our school and to be able to call her my colleague and bounce ideas off of her. She is a great support for everyone there, including the administration and all the students.”

The great thing about the entire evening though, is that we heard 18 other similarly amazing stories about 18 other amazing teachers. The strong field of candidates made this year’s selection process extremely difficult for the panel tasked with choosing the teacher that would represent Scotland County moving on to the regional and state level. And I would be willing to bet that if asked about most of the teachers on their staffs, principals would have more amazing stories to share.

The greatest compliment I heard all night came from Patrick Peed, the assistant principal at Spring Hill Middle School when presenting his school’s teacher of the year, LaTonya McLean. Peed, the father of two boys, said that McLean was the kind of teacher he wanted for his children. As a I looked at the group of teachers assembled Monday night, I couldn’t help but echo those sentiments about not only the teachers being honored, but about all the teachers in Scotland County Schools.

To Mrs. Watkins, you are representing a great group of teachers. I am sure you will do them all proud as you move forward. We are looking forward to recognizing you again - as North Carolina’s Teacher of the Year.