Ellington

Josh Lindsey didn't know how long he would be a teacher after he moved to Hancock County in 2006. Displaced from the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, Lindsey and his wife, Kristi, lived in Texas for about six months before coming home to Kiln.

The first year at Hancock Middle School was rough, but colleagues told him the second year would be better. It was, and in 2011, Lindsay began teaching at Hancock County High School.

On Tuesday, April 16, seven years later, Lindsay was named Mississippi's 2013 Teacher of the Year.

"I am unbelievably humbled. There are so many wonderful teachers in our state, and to receive this honor is very humbling," Lindsay said. "It's a big responsibility and it's a big opportunity to be a voice for teachers in this state, and it's something I plan to take very seriously."

Lindsey teaches English II to 10th graders at Hancock County High School, and he coaches boy's varsity soccer. This year, he also taught a remedial class for students who had failed the English II test before. Of the 50 students he started with, 45 have now passed, and Lindsey is still working with the other five.

Four finalists emerged for the award out of 33,947 teachers in the state, reports the Mississippi Department of Education. Cecily McNair, director of the Mississippi Teachers Center and a member of the award selection committee, praised Lindsey's "passion for teaching, his intelligence, his wit and his exemplary service that makes him such an incredible educator."

Lindsey will receive a one-time stipend of $5,000 and serve as an ambassador for Mississippi when it comes to education. He will travel to Washington, D.C., to be recognized by President Barack Obama in the White House Rose Garden along with Teachers of the Year from the other 49 states.

"I want people to know that Mississippi educators are professionals," Lindsey said. "We take our job seriously. Our ultimate goal is to bring about the best of the children we see in our classrooms. Sometimes, Mississippi gets ranked in the lower half of the country when we are comparing the whole nation, and it's not because our teachers aren't performing or because our students are somehow behind other students from other states. Our students work hard, and our teachers work hard, and that's what I want my message to be."

Lindsey was valedictorian of Petal High School in 1997. In 2001, he graduated summa cum laude with bachelor's degrees in English and political science from the University of Mississippi. He also received the Senator's Award for Outstanding Political Science Major.

On Wednesday, Kristi Lindsey was one of nine recipients of the annual Leo W. Seal Innovative Teacher Grants, which recognize and encourage educational excellence in eight counties located in south Mississippi. The couple is expecting their first child.

Other 2013 Teacher of the Year finalists were Kathy Farmer (Lake High School), Tara Harris (Thomas St. Elementary) and Gwendolyn Milton (Gentry High School).