Mount Pleasant Junior High School 7th Grade Science Teacher Tracey Campbell has been named the Region 8 Education Service Center Secondary Teacher of the Year. Campbell, the MPISD Secondary Teacher of the Year, was chosen from all Region 8 Districts’ Secondary Teachers of the Year.

“We are extremely proud of Dr. Campbell for receiving this honor,” said Judd Marshall, MPISD Superintendent of Schools. “He is a great asset to the Junior High and to this District. He is a caring and committed teacher who clearly cares for his students. It has been over 10 years since an MPISD teacher has advanced to the State level. We know he will be a great representative of this district and community in Austin. By the way, Dr. Campbell is a graduate of Mount Pleasant High School, another example of quality of individual this school district produces.”

Campbell attended Northeast Texas Community College and earned his B.A. in Biology from Austin College in Sherman. He earned a Masters of Divinity from Louisiana Baptist University (LBU) in Shreveport and in 2017 was awarded a doctorate in Psychology and Christian Counseling from LBU. He taught in Rusk ISD, Harts Bluff ISD and Pittsburg ISD before joining Mt. Pleasant ISD in 2016.

When asked why he became a teacher, Campbell said he had a disastrous first attempt at lecturing to a college class. That caused him to think that he “could find a way to communicate to students what they need to know to be successful in every area of life.” That led him to take education classes and become a teacher.

Campbell says he thrives on the opportunity to learn new things that teaching creates.

He says “I like finding new educational strategies. I like meeting students from a variety of different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. I am validated in knowing that each student regardless of specific modification, accommodation, or at risk position, has had an opportunity to learn things that will enrich their life.”

Dr. Campbell will be recognized in Austin at the Texas Teacher of the Year Awards Ceremony on September 14.