‘Real and relevant’ Tackett named Teacher of the Year for Murray County Schools

Published 11:00 am Wednesday, July 6, 2022

CHATSWORTH — Whether he was in the U.S. Army, working at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport for American Airlines, on duty as a deputy sheriff, selling cars or — for the past two decades — teaching in the Murray County Schools system, Kevin Tackett’s motto has remained the same: “Leave it better than you found it.”

“That’s the way I was raised,” said Tackett, Murray County Schools’ 2020-21 Teacher of the Year. “I wanted to be an important person in the life of somebody.”

“It was a total surprise, and I was blown away” to be named Teacher of the Year, he said. “I was very humbled, and I appreciate it.”

He also enjoyed that the announcement was made at halftime of a Murray County-North Murray high school basketball game, rather than in a banquet setting with only educators, he said. He spotted numerous former students in the crowd, and their applause was “nice affirmation.”

While some teachers are motivated to become educators because of the outstanding teachers they learned from as children, Tackett wanted to be the type of educator he didn’t have growing up in rural, impoverished — his childhood home didn’t have running water — Northern Tennessee.

He tells his students, “’I’ll be at your graduation, so you better be there,’ and I go to all their graduations,” he said. “That’s motivational for them, and they know it’s not just about one year with them for me.”

In schools he attended, teachers were “brutal, rough and disassociated,” said Tackett, an eighth-grade English/language arts teacher at Gladden Middle School. “I’m a student of students — I research what they like and what they’re into, and they laugh sometimes, but it gets them involved — so I’m not so far removed, which adds to my ‘cred’ (credibility).”

He has ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), so he won’t accept excuses from his students.

“I hate excuses,” he said. “Everyone can come up with a million reasons you can’t, (so) find the one reason you can, and, if you (fail), regroup, and move on — that’s the old soldier in me.”

He does provide plenty of empathy, however.

“I can see their perspective, and I (encourage them) to look at it in a different way,” he said. “If an old country boy like me can crawl out of Appalachia, you can (make it) from Murray County.”

Multiple schools and roles Tackett’s 21-year career in Murray County Schools has been essentially split equally among Murray County High School, what is now Pleasant Valley Innovative School and Gladden. He’s focused on special education and English, although his current concentration is Gladden’s gifted and talented students.

“It’s the most wonderful experience,” and he hopes to continue until he retires, he said. “I loved working with special education students — I have a master’s in special education, and that’s my wheelhouse — but it’s really neat to see the other end of the spectrum.”

His gifted students “think outside the box,” and he feels rejuvenated by the new challenge, he said. With special education students, a teacher’s work is often “more motivational, because (school) is hard for them,” but with gifted students, his challenge is to engage them so “their time here is well spent.”

“Last year, I had a student go from kindergarten (level) to third grade,” which was outstanding, he said. “This year, I have a student already writing on a 10th-grade level, so I need to find ways to challenge him even more.”

Tackett “is an amazing teacher (who) has been placed with our gifted students this year and has challenged their thinking in ways unimaginable,” said Daphne Winkler, principal of Gladden Middle School. “At times it can be difficult to keep the focus of students who already know how to do something, but (he) is wonderful at making learning interesting and challenging for all students, (so) I was so excited when he was named system Teacher of the Year, (as) I could not think of anyone more deserving.”

Varied professional experience Tackett graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in education, but didn’t begin teaching immediately, a decision he believes has been to his advantage.

With students and staff, “sometimes Captain Tackett comes out” — he spent 27 years in the U.S. Army, active and reserve, in psychological operations, including during the Desert Storm conflict in the Middle East — “sometimes it’s Deputy Sheriff Tackett, and sometimes it’s salesman Tackett,” he said. Education is “a product, and if (students) don’t buy you, they’re not going to buy what you’re selling.”

“I tell them ‘Always ask for the relevance,’” he said. “You have to be real and relevant.”

When he teaches about Anne Frank and the Holocaust, for example, “they see someone their age still relevant 80 years later,” he said. Anyone can “make a contribution” to history and literature.

He also enjoys teaching Edgar Allan Poe, as “they start exploring dark romanticism at this age, and I love to teach them the psychology behind why they are so into it,” he said. “I bring them the background and context that adds to it.”

And, despite offers, he’s remained in the classroom, rather than move into an administrative role, although he has served as a special education department chair.

“I love the classroom, and I feel I’m more effective in the trenches with kids,” he said. “It’s all relationships — connect with them — and they have to know you care.”

Tackett “goes above and beyond on a day-to-day basis — he actually opens the school each morning with a smiling face and welcoming arms — he is a leader in the language arts curriculum, and he assists with drama productions and student council,” Winkler said. “Students love being in (his) classroom, and Gladden Middle School is lucky to have him as a teacher.”

‘Always about the kids’Tackett’s three children all followed him into “serving humanity,” with his son Zack a computer engineer; his second son, Allen, involved in ministry near Nashville, Tennessee; and his daughter Bonnie Johnson a teacher at Spring Place Elementary School, he said. His advice for his daughter when she began teaching is the same wisdom he imparts to all new teachers: “Stick with it, because you are making a difference — it may take decades to see, but you are making a difference.”

After the death of his first wife, Tackett remarried “a local girl, Monda, a registered nurse,” whose mother, Leslie Ballew, spent three decades teaching at Chatsworth Elementary School and has become “my number one fan,” he said. Monda encouraged him to “do what I love — I’m living my dream, what I always wanted to do,” as an educator — and “I have a wonderful support system.”

He’s particularly passionate about instilling character traits “beyond the book” and curriculum in his students, such as “integrity, respect and relevance,” he said. “I live in this community,” so he’ll often bump into current and former students, and when they tell him “If it wasn’t for you, (my life would’ve taken a much worse course),” that “affirmation is worth everything in the world.”

“They’re productive members of their community and valuable citizens,” he said. “It’s never been about me; it’s always about the kids.”