FROM STAFF REPORTS

Arab High School head football coach Watt Parker was approved as head football coach at Helena High during the Shelby County Board of Education’s Dec. 20 meeting in Columbiana.

Parker has been an educator and coach for 22 years and an athletic administrator for the past 12 years.

“Coach Parker’s commitment to excellence in the classroom and on the field has been exemplary,” Helena High Principal Jay Peoples wrote in a news release. “Known as a planner, a builder and a tireless worker, Coach Watt Parker is well suited to lead Helena High School athletics and excited about the opportunity to build the program on a solid foundation of character, accountability and hard work.”

Parker spent 14 years in Shelby County Schools, including a stint as an assistant at Thompson High School and head football coach at Chelsea High School. Under Parker’s leadership, the Chelsea High football team made the playoffs each year and reached the third round for the first time in school history in 2005.

At Arab High School, Parker’s team achieved the first playoff victory in the history of the school’s football program, according to the news release. He also holds certification from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.

“In addition to his achievements in the athletic realm, Coach Parker has also established himself as an excellent mathematics teacher, often carrying a challenging teaching load while serving as head coach and athletic director,” Peoples wrote.