Wednesday morning, Northside High School coach Sam Said found out he was Houston County's Teacher of the Year Award, but his wife, Kristie Said, knew three weeks ago and kept it a secret.
"It was hard -- he's really good about finding out things and he asked questions, you know? It was just kind of crazy," she said.
Kristie had all of his family come into town to surprise Sam, and he said it was a moment he'll remember for the rest of his life.
"When you go out there and look on the stage and you see everybody looking at you and you think, 'Wow, these people are really good at their jobs and they're waiting for me to say something,' it's a humbling experience," he said, "but it was really great, and to have my family there was really big."
Said has been an educator for 19 years. He started his career in Dublin then spent 10 years teaching at Perry High School. This is his 6th year teaching 11th and 12th grade math at Northside.
Most of his success comes from helping students who've fallen behind to graduate on time. Athletic Director Kevin Kinsler says Said has a special way with kids.
"There were a lot of kids that walked across that stage last year who owe that to Coach Said and what he was able to do to get them to that point where they could graduate," he said.
Said won Northside High School's Teacher of the Year Award back in May. He'll compete for Georgia's Teacher of the Year, which will be announced next spring.