Winston Peterson is a busy man. As the Athletic Director for Clinch County, he’s responsible for all athletic programs in the county. He’s also a teacher at Clinch County High School. And an assistant football coach for the Panthers. And he works as a resource officer for the county through the sheriff’s office.
Peterson graduated from Clinch County, where he played football and baseball; got a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Valdosta State University; and then came back home to serve his community.
In January, Peterson was named the Region 2A Athletic Director of the Year. He described what he does as “not the most flashy job in the world,” but he does what he can for the coaches and students in Clinch County to succeed.
“I’m making the head coaches’ jobs easier,” Peterson said. “I think of myself as a resource for head coaches.”
A typical day for Peterson starts at 7 a.m., and he usually gets home around 12 hours later. On game days during football season, his 12-hour days turn into 18-hour days, but he’s not complaining.
“I look at it like: If I’m going out there and expect them to give 100 percent and give all they got, I have to do the same also,” Peterson said.
At the high school, he teaches three criminal justice courses as part of the Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education program.
As a resource officer for the county, Peterson participates in the Choosing Healthy Activities and Methods Promoting Safety program founded in 2003 by the Georgia Sheriff’s Association. As part of the program, he visits Clinch County Middle School’s fifth graders once a week for about 12 weeks and educates them on subjects ranging from drugs, alcohol, and peer pressure to internet safety to staying home alone to the proper riding of four-wheelers.
“I enjoy being able to go over there and see those fifth graders and be at the school with the smaller kids because of the way they look up to you,” Peterson said. “Hopefully I make an influence.”
Peterson enjoys the work he does because he feels he can make a difference, especially while the children are young.
“Working at the high school, I get to make a difference there, hopefully make a difference there, but if you’re gonna reach kids, you have to reach them at a young age,” he said.
He also wants to leave a good impression of police officers in general on the students and tries his best to build a relationship and sense of trust between the students and the police force.
“I try to get them to understand what police officers do,” Peterson said. “People sometimes have a standoffish image of what police officers are. I get people all the time that say, ‘I don’t see how you do it, work in the schools.’ To me, I wouldn’t do anything else.”
He always spends his first class going over his utility belt. As for which question the middle schoolers ask most often?
“‘Can I see your gun?’” Peterson said with a laugh. “I cover my entire duty belt to explain why we have all this stuff.” And don’t worry; he explains to them that, no, they can’t see his gun.
But the fifth graders keep him humble; one student raised a hand, and Peterson assumed he had a question about his utility belt. The student assured him, instead, that he was not as cool as Batman.
Peterson works as hard as he does and stays as busy as he does because he wants to make his hometown better.
“I got kids growing up here, and I want it to be the best place it can be,” he said. “I want my kids growing up in the best environment they can grow up in. I didn’t look at it as doing more; I looked at it as the opportunity to do more. Sometime it gets hectic, but in the end its all worth it.”
In the Game – South Georgia – April/May 2017
Winston Peterson
Clinch High School
City, State
Written by: Anna Limoges
Photos by: Emmanuel
The Opportunity to Do More
