Sometimes the best way to give back to your community is to serve the very place that helped shape you.

Lafayette alumni Margo and Kevin Parker are doing just that. Both have built careers serving others right here in Lafayette County and were recently recognized as recipients of the Best of Oxford 2026. Margo was named Best Elementary Teacher, while Kevin was recognized as Best Law Enforcement Officer.

Margo is in her 16th year in education and currently teaches kindergarten at Lafayette. She chose teaching because she wanted to be part of the very beginning of a child’s school journey.

“It is the time when they realize to believe in themselves, make new friends, discover what they are capable of, and understand that learning is fun and exciting.”

Kevin is in his 16th year in law enforcement with the Oxford Police Department, where he currently serves as a Captain. For him, choosing a career in law enforcement was about giving back to the community that played such an important role in his own life.

“I wanted to have a positive influence on the community that helped me grow as a young person, a young adult, and now as a husband and father.”

For both Margo and Kevin, staying in Lafayette County was an easy choice.

“It is home.”

They value the opportunity to pour back into the same community that helped shape them, build relationships with local families, and watch their own children grow up surrounded by the people and places they love.

Their connection to Lafayette began long before their careers and family. Margo and Kevin are high school sweethearts, beginning their relationship in the summer of 2006 after Kevin graduated from Lafayette and before Margo began her senior year. They had always known each other and shared many of the same friends, but that summer, their friendship grew into something more.

Twenty years together and 14 years of marriage later, they are raising two children of their own. John Ace is a seventh grader, and Amelia is a second grader, both attending Lafayette. Between school, activities, and family life, the couple stays busy, but they wouldn’t have it any other way.

And when they aren't working or keeping up with their children, you can probably find Margo and Kevin cheering on a baseball team. They are passionate baseball fans and have traveled to several Major League ballparks, including Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, two of the oldest ballparks in Major League Baseball. Their next goal? A trip to Dodger Stadium to complete their visit to all three of MLB’s oldest ballparks.

From their days as Lafayette students to their careers serving local children, families, and the community, Margo and Kevin are continuing to make an impact right here at home.

Congratulations to Margo and Kevin on being named Best of Oxford 2026 recipients, and thank you for continuing to give back to the community that helped shape you!

Forever Commodores Anchored to Excellence!