Excellent Educators is a WAVY-TV 10 initiative to celebrate local teachers who have gone above and beyond for their students and communities during the last academic year. These Excellent Educators were nominated by their school divisions. Congratulations to these educators for all of their hard work and accomplishments!
Name: James Kimbrough
Division: Hampton City Schools
Position: Government and World History II teacher at Kecoughtan High School
What the school division said about this Excellent Educator: James Kimbrough is a model educator at Kecoughtan High School and a positive role model for students inside and outside of the school. He engages with students every day! On a daily basis he has a group of young people around him and he is talking to them, encouraging them, laughing with them, smiling at them, and wishing them a great day.
He has a special way of reaching all students! He goes above and beyond to maintain a classroom environment that is both positive and engaging as he strives for excellence. His students know that he will not judge or criticize them, but rather encourage and uplift them.
Additionally, Kimbrough is a teacher leader. For the past two years, he has been the Academy of Entrepreneurship and Information Design teacher lead. In this role, Kimbrough engages, supports, and inspires his teacher team to reflect on current practices and student success. He created the team’s interdisciplinary connection tracker, which allows for the team to cross-plan and create connected experiences across core and Career and Technical Education (CTE) subjects. He monitors this work and provides meaningful feedback to academy grade level teams.
He not only supports his students and his academy teachers, but also all teachers at Kecoughtan High School. He willingly trades his planning blocks to cover classes that do not have substitute coverage. He then engages those students as if they were his own and holds students accountable to learning.
Not only does he support and lead from the classroom, Kimbrough coaches and mentors from the field. He served as the assistant varsity softball coach for three years and is currently in his second year as the head junior varsity softball coach at Kecoughtan High School. During his years as an athletic coach, he has instilled perseverance, collaboration, and discipline in his players.
Kimbrough is a U.S. Army veteran and understands the pressures leaders face. He works hard to support school leaders in their efforts of continuous school improvement. He has a mindset of “What can I do to make my leader’s job easier?”
He is an excellent model of social-emotional learning. He fosters relationships with students and colleagues and pushes individuals to be their best all while supporting them. He exudes a positive attitude and unwavering support of staff and administration, is willing to take on leadership positions, and is always willing to step in where needed!
