First Sergeant (Retired) William G. Parr, Churchill High School JROTC instructor, was selected as the United States Army Cadet Command's JROTC National Instructor of the Year for 2009. Nominations were submitted from each of the eight brigades in the country and from those a single individual is selected as the national winner. Earlier, Parr was selected as the JROTC Instructor of the Year for 2008-09 in 5th Brigade JROTC, United State Army Cadet Command. The 5th Brigade JROTC area of operation covers eight states of the southwestern United States and 285 Army JROTC programs. 

Parr was the recipient of the JROTC Distinctive Gold Instructor Award in 2008, and has been a certified JROTC Instructor for the past seven years.

"First Sergeant Parr clearly demonstrates his effectiveness and skills to motivate the student/cadets to excel in the classroom as well as the drill pad, Air Rifle range," said Colonel Robert Henson, NEISD director of army instruction. "He is well versed on the four-phase lesson plan and uses it effectively when conducting student centered instructional periods of the curriculum. His abilities and application of teaching skills, coupled with his direct involvement in community service and service learning projects are equaled by only a very few of his contemporaries.  His superior knowledge and the willingness to help others learn have resulted in his conducting campus and District training classes on the use of the classroom performance system (CPS).  1SG Parr is a leader in bringing classroom technology to the campus core curriculum departments by arranging demonstrations for teachers with the local eInstruction representatives resulting in the gifting of CPS units to the math and science departments at Churchill campus."

Parr holds a Baccalaureate Degree in Business Management from Wayland Baptist University and maintains all current training requirements for JROTC certification. He was singled out for his tremendous and tireless work in community service, service learning projects and successful Blood Drives" he collaborates to conduct annually.

Chief Warrant Officer Sergio Ramon nominated Parr for the award based upon his personal observations of Parr's performance.  

"1SG Parr has served as a mentor and guest presenter for other teachers at Churchill High School. He has shared his expertise on the Classroom Performance System (CPS), with the Information Technology Director and has visited other instructors both within and outside the NEISD to help them set up and use CPS," said Ramon. "There is not one thing that 1SG Parr will not do in the performance of his duties or commitment to those young Americans he has been charged to oversee and mentor."