Between sports games, interviews with athletes and even NFL drafts, sports history teacher Sam Vincent is always there for his students, so it makes sense that he was announced as the 2027 Wood County Teacher of the Year. Vincent received the award during a board meeting on Tuesday, April 28. He said he was honored to receive the award and hear the kind things they had to say about him and his career.
“The things they said about me and some quotes, that was very humbling and kind of emotional, things that they said about me as a teacher,” Vincent said. “Some of my closest students, who didn’t know I was going to win were actually there which was a pretty neat feeling.”
Vincent was nominated by junior Katie Eckhart, a former student of his. In order to compete for the award Vincent had to complete a process that involved answering a series of written questions as well as having an interview with three former winners of the award. They narrowed it down from 300 nominations to seven finalists. Vincent was notified beforehand that he had won the award to ensure that he would be attending the board meeting.
“When they let me know, I wasn’t really supposed to tell anybody, but I did tell Mrs. Yoney,” Vincent said. “She’s my best friend and she had known I had been applying and got interviewed and so it was very humbling and it makes you feel good.”
Vincent became a teacher because of his parents’ backgrounds in education, with his mom working as a teacher and his dad working at Marietta College. Vincent has taught for 14 years, all of which were at PHS. When he started teaching he also was coaching cross country and track but his passion for sports eventually turned into him teaching a sports-centered class instead. He started teaching sports history because the school was in need of more elective classes and Vincent wanted to start a class that he and his students would enjoy.
“I had kind of heard of some college courses about how sports influenced society,” Vincent said. “Sports have always been a big part of my life and my interests, so I threw it out there, (thinking) ‘We’ll try it for a year and if it’s popular and it seems like it’s good, we’ll keep it.’”
Students who participate in Vincent’s sports classes get many opportunities to take field trips to museums and sporting events as well as getting to interview famous athletes and important sports figures. Vincent works hard calling and emailing agents and athletes every day in the hopes of getting more unique experiences for his students. He is also in charge of T-Club and helps plan many of the senior events each year.
“I want to make an impact and a positive impact on people,” Vincent said. “If it’s not going to be that much more effort for me, I want to go above and beyond if I can.”
