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The Virginia High School League (VHSL) doesn’t give out a ton of awards. It takes some true accomplishment over years of work for someone to be nominated, let alone to win the VHSL Regional Award of Merit, designed as a way to honor those who have a positive impact on their student athletes, staff and communities. And it’s extremely rare for a person to win by a unanimous vote. And yet, that’s exactly what Buckingham County Superintendent Dr. John Keeler did. 

Nominated by Buckingham High Athletic Director Russ Gowin, Keeler was given the award during the Buckingham school board meeting on Wednesday, March 12. The award was presented by Buckingham High Principal Damon Talley, himself one of the student athletes Keeler inspired and impacted throughout the years. 

“I’m fortunate to be in two Hall of Fames because of his leadership,” Talley said of Keeler. “He is one of the most respected men in the state of Virginia as a coach, mentor and superintendent. He is best known for his love for the game, his caring for his players and coaches. I personally am one of those individuals who have witnessed firsthand some of the presence that Dr. Keeler has.” 

Talley credited Keeler with inspiring his own approach to leadership, one that involves supporting and caring about both the people working with you and the students under your care. 

The VHSL describes the Regional Award of Merit as one given to “individuals who have had a positive impact on high school athletic and activity programs at the school, conference, regional or state level.” 

A chance to nominate

Each region gets three chances to nominate someone. It can be an administrator, a coach or a contributor, someone who helped in other ways with high school sports. For Keeler, all three were applicable. Throughout his career, his schools have won 11 state championships, including the recent Scholastic Bowl win here in Buckingham. He’s been a teacher, a coach, an administrator and worked in the central office during that time, helping students and staff in multiple districts along the way. All of these regional winners will be recognized in October, during the Virginia High School League’s membership meeting. 

When given the award, Keeler declined calls for a speech. Instead, he thanked everyone for the honor, but turned the credit away from himself. 

“When you have great kids, great things can happen,” Keeler said. 

Dr. John Keeler says goodbye 

The Buckingham superintendent will retire at the end of this school year, saying goodbye after several years in the county. 

Keeler originally joined the district in an interim role, taking over after former BCPS Superintendent Dr. Daisy Hicks announced her retirement back in 2021. The interim tag was removed in 2022 and Keeler took over the position full-time. 

Keeler pointed out several things that he was proud of developing over the course of his time in Buckingham. Chief among them is the improvement with SOL (Standards of Learning) test results. The district met or exceeded state standards when it comes to pass rates this year. For example, last year, only 58% of Buckingham Middle students passed English and now that’s up to 76%. A total of 77% passed Math, up from 65% last year.