A French teacher at Barton Academy in downtown Mobile is headed to the top of the profession. William Edmonds has been named Alabama’s Secondary Teacher of the Year, according to the Mobile County Public School System, which announced the honor after a statewide recognition ceremony.
Two Mobile County Honorees
Edmonds was recognized alongside Kelly Parker of Tanner Williams Elementary, who earned a spot among the Top 16 finalists for Alabama Teacher of the Year — a strong showing for Mobile County Public Schools in the state’s annual teaching honors.
More Than Two Decades in the Classroom
Edmonds brings 24 years of teaching experience to his role at Barton Academy. Beyond his classroom duties, he has taught French to students across Alabama through the ACCESS distance learning program and has taught at both the University of South Alabama and the University of Mobile.
His résumé also includes service as an International Baccalaureate examiner, grading IB exams worldwide, and a term as president of the Alliance Française de Mobile, the local French cultural organization.
Edmonds came to teaching by way of banking. He holds a bachelor’s degree in global business and French from the University of Mobile and a master’s degree in education from the University of South Alabama. His studies have taken him abroad repeatedly, including intensive language immersion in Belgium and France and a scholarship trip to Canada and Louisiana to research the deportation of the French-speaking Acadians — history with deep echoes along the Gulf Coast.