Cherokee County Carpenter-Teacher and Marine Veteran Bobby Wiggins Named 2026 District Teacher of the Year

Bobby Mayo Wiggins II of Cherokee High School was recognized at the district's Legacy Makers celebration, with his wife — also a CCSD Teacher of the Year — by his side

Bobby Mayo Wiggins II has built things with his hands his entire adult life — first as a Marine Corps sergeant in two combat zones, then as a teacher shaping young people in the county where he grew up. On the night Cherokee County School District named him its 2026 Teacher of the Year, both threads of that story came together in a room full of standing applause.

Superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis opened the envelope at the close of the Legacy Makers: CCSD Teachers of the Year Celebration to reveal Wiggins as the district's top honoree. A carpentry and construction teacher at Cherokee High School on Univeter Road in Canton, Wiggins earned the recognition after his colleagues first named him their school's Teacher of the Year — a vote of confidence from the people who know his work best. A committee of retired educators, community leaders, and the current district Teacher of the Year then elevated him to the final four before he claimed the top honor.

His path to that moment was anything but direct. A Cherokee High School graduate himself, Wiggins deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Inherent Resolve before earning his education degree at Auburn University and returning to teach at his alma mater. For most of his six years in the classroom, he taught history and economics. Then, one year ago, he made a deliberate pivot into Career Pathway classes in carpentry and construction — the kind of hands-on, credential-bearing coursework that can put a Cherokee County student directly into a skilled trade upon graduation.

That shift, he said, changed him as much as it changed his students.

"That decision required me to step outside my comfort zone, challenge myself professionally, and become a voice for students who needed different opportunities to succeed," Wiggins said. The move also reconnected him to something he understood from his military service: that real leadership sometimes means starting over, learning from scratch, and modeling humility in front of the people counting on you.

"My own journey from Marine Corps sergeant to classroom teacher has taught me that leadership in education means being patient, firm, and committed to every child, regardless of background or ability," he said.

In his acceptance remarks, Wiggins drew an explicit line between the barracks and the classroom — two environments that, on the surface, look nothing alike but share a common currency.

"Our profession is not just about lessons and standards — it is about people," he told the room. "Students do not remember our worksheets or slide shows — they remember how we made them feel and how we helped them believe in themselves."

He was quick, too, to redirect credit. When Wiggins thanked his wife, Emily Wiggins — herself a CCSD teacher and this year's Teacher of the Year at Mill Creek Middle School — the crowd's reaction suggested the moment landed exactly as he intended.

"I wouldn't be here without my wife," he said. "She's made me a better man. And my kids know — she's the better teacher out of the two of us."

That detail carries its own quiet significance. In a district that employs hundreds of teachers across dozens of campuses, having a husband and wife each named Teacher of the Year at their respective schools in the same year is a distinction that is, by any measure, rare.

The three other district finalists recognized at the celebration each represent a different corner of the school system's work: an English literature and composition teacher at Dean Rusk Middle School, a physical education teacher at Hickory Flat Elementary School, and an Early Intervention Program teacher at R.M. Moore ES STEM Academy. Note: the names of the finalists will be confirmed and added upon verification with CCSD.

The evening was made possible through the support of presenting sponsors Cherokee County Educational Foundation — the nonprofit arm that channels community investment directly into CCSD classrooms and programs — along with Credit Union of Georgia, Northside Hospital Cherokee, and Shottenkirk Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Canton. Additional sponsors across multiple tiers helped ensure that every school-level Teacher of the Year honoree left the evening with meaningful recognition, and that the district winner received a prize package reflecting the breadth of community investment in public education here.

For Cherokee County residents, the stakes of that investment are straightforward: CCSD is one of the largest employers and the central public institution in the county, serving tens of thousands of students. Who teaches those students — and whether the district can attract, retain, and celebrate people like Bobby Wiggins — shapes the community's future as directly as any road project or rezoning decision.

Wiggins, for his part, seems to understand that weight. He came home from two wars, went back to school, walked back into the building where he once sat in student desks, and then — when he had already found his footing — chose to start over again in a new classroom, learning alongside his students what it means to build something from nothing.

That is, in the end, exactly the kind of teacher Cherokee County asked for when it put his name on the envelope.