VIDEO: The 2024-2025 Tennessee Teacher of the Year has been crowned: Bryan Kerns of Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport City Schools.
Kerns has spent 17 years of a 20-year teaching career as an Algebra 1, Geometry and Algebra 2 teacher at Dobyns-Bennett High School. However, Kerns also holds a unique position — fire management instructor.
The Teacher of the Year helped develop the Dobyns-Bennett Fire Program, an opportunity which includes the D-B Prescribed Fire team and full progression of the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Fire Management Services courses. “Students were like, ‘Tell us more fire stories,'” said Kerns. “I started the club in 2018, 2019, thinking, you know, I’ll have some kids come after school and I’ll tell fire stories.”