On Monday, The National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) presented its “Regional Exceptional Service Award” to Deputy Warren “Keith” McCullough of the Okaloosa Sheriff’s Department.

McCullough serves as a SRO at Silver Sands School in Fort Walton Beach.

The annual award recognizes school resource officers who have made specific and significant contributions to their local communities and/or school districts, and have gone above and beyond what is expected of an SRO.

• McCullough was the award recipient for Region 1, which includes Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

NASRO presented the award on Monday morning in a ceremony in Orlando, Florida as part of its annual National School Safety Conference.

“We are so incredibly proud of the tradition of excellence by our SROs, earning numerous state and national awards for their work in protecting our schools and mentoring our Okaloosa students,” wrote the OCSO in a statement on Monday afternoon.

“School safety is a top priority to us at the Okaloosa County School District,” said Superintendent Marcus Chambers. “Deputy McCullough and the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office SRO program exemplify that. We appreciate the partnership with Sheriff Aden and his team as they protect our students on a daily basis.”