Pair of Auburn alumni win prestigious state awards

Auburn University alumni Kimberly Johnson and Joey Darby recently earned the titles of Alabama 2021-22 Teacher of the Year and 2020 Fire Chief of the Year, respectively.

Johnson, who earned her bachelor’s in English/Language Arts Teacher Education from Auburn’s College of Education in 2008, teaches study skills classes at Auburn Junior High School. She has been an educator for more than 20 years and was chosen for the distinction from a group of 17 finalists, also taking Secondary Teacher of the Year honors.

“It’s just an honor to even be considered, and to actually win, I’m just overwhelmed,” Johnson told WSFA’s Courtney Chandler at the Montgomery-based awards reception. “Last year and the school year we’re coming into has been hard. Let’s get in there, let’s pull up our boot straps and let’s do hard things, because the kids deserve it.”

Johnson is a published author and a national board-certified teacher who works to develop more meaningful and authentic classroom approaches to help students. She has been a District Level Strategic Planning Team member, a U.S. Space Academy counselor, presented at the National Council of English Teachers Convention and is a member of the International Honorary Organization for Women Educators.

Alabama’s Teacher of the Year serves as a full-time ambassador for education and the teaching profession and conducts workshops. The state’s teacher of the year becomes a candidate for National Teacher of the Year.

Darby, of the Foley Fire Department, was recognized as Fire Chief of the Year for the state of Alabama by the Alabama Association of Fire Chiefs, and the award was presented at its annual meeting in Orange Beach on Aug. 10.

Darby has served as the Fire Chief of the City of Foley since Jan. 5, 2009. Previously, he served the City of Auburn Fire Division from 1994 until coming to Foley, having worked through the ranks to Battalion Chief.

He also served as fire chief of the Stillwater Volunteer Fire and Rescue Fire District from 2005-08. Darby began his fire service career serving as a volunteer firefighter in his home community of Walnut Hill, Florida, in 1992.

“Being recognized by my peers as the 2020 Alabama Fire Chief of the Year is a great honor, and I am humbled to have been selected,” Darby said. “I have been blessed to serve the City of Foley, and I look forward to continuing in that service.”

Darby says that his initial plans were to become an electrical engineer, but those changed when he had the opportunity to work for the City of Auburn as a student firefighter while attending Auburn University.

He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering—now known as Biosystems Engineering—from Auburn in 1999, but at that time had already advanced to a full-time position with the Fire Division and had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Therefore, he made the decision to continue his career in the fire service.

Darby became active in the Alabama Association of Fire Chiefs, or AAFC, in 2006 and served on the executive board for many years, including as president from 2013-14. He also served as the AAFC appointment to the Alabama Fire College and Personnel Standards Commission for the past eight years.