West Union teacher, archery coach named Character Council finalist

Brian Chitwood’s latest recognition reflects more than a personal honor. It puts West Union High School’s science teacher and district archery coach at the center of a larger question in Adams County Ohio Valley Schools: what does character look like when it is built into daily school life?

Chitwood was named an Adult Hero finalist for the 2026 Heroes of Character honors from Character Council, which serves Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana. The finalist list placed the West Union educator among adults recognized across the region as part of the council’s “Together We Thrive” celebration and fundraiser.

At West Union High School, Chitwood is listed on the staff roster as a science teacher. In the district, he has also become closely identified with archery, a program he and his wife, Tiffany Chitwood, worked for three years to bring into the Ohio Valley School District through the National Archery in the Schools Program. The program became school-affiliated in May 2022.

That matters in a district where character education is not just a slogan but a visible part of student life. Chitwood’s work spans classroom instruction, student mentoring and a competitive activity that has grown from an after-school club into a school-affiliated program with varsity, junior varsity and middle school teams at West Union and North Adams.

By February 2025, Chitwood said the archery program had several students qualifying for the state tournament, a sign that the district’s investment had moved beyond launch stage and into sustained participation. The growth also shows how one staff member can shape opportunities across multiple grades and buildings, especially in a rural district where fewer extracurriculars can change the school experience for a larger share of students.

Character Council’s recognition gives Adams County schools a public example of the kind of adult leadership they say they value: steady classroom work, student supervision, and the patience required to build a new program over several years. For parents and students, the test is whether that model shows up in everyday school life, in science lessons, in discipline decisions and in the kind of mentoring that keeps students engaged long enough to try something new.

For West Union and North Adams, Chitwood’s finalist status is also a reminder that the people running local programs often do more than one job. In this case, the same educator teaching science is also helping steer a district sport that now reaches from the middle school level to state tournament qualifiers, with Adams County schools holding him up as a finalist for one of the region’s character awards.