Lampligther is celebrating Black History Month by inviting speakers to the school such as Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins.

Watkins spoke with second through fourth graders about the district attorney’s office, his six year career thus far, and answered questions about the best and worst parts of his job.

The best: “Traveling around giving speeches to nice people like you [the students].”

The worst: “Handing down the ultimate sentence,” he said. “I have to make the determination of whether to give the death penalty.”

Watkins was also asked who his hero was, to which he replied Thurgood Marshall, the 1967-1991 associate justice of the Supreme Court. Marshall was the first black justice.

Watkins too was a first. In 2007 he was inaugurated as the first black male elected to the office of Criminal District Attorney in Texas.

"Meeting Craig Watkins was such a big hit that I think some of the students could have followed him out to his car with even more questions,” says organizer and parent Candace Martin

“Meeting Craig Watkins was such a big hit that I think some of the students could have followed him out to his car with even more questions,” says organizer and parent Candace Martin at far right

District Attorney Craig Watkins speaks to Lamplighter students

Craig Watkins at Lamplighter