By Lora Carroll/The Leeds News

Leeds Middle School has a new man a campus in the form of an assistant principal, coach and mentor. Steven Hunter now walks the halls of the newly constructed school and the sidelines of Homer Smiles Stadium.

Hunter, who is originally from Springville where he graduated high school, is an experienced teacher and assistant principal who recently moved from Maplesville High School to take on a new path in Leeds.

Hunter has been in the teaching field for over 19 years and much of that time has been spent within St. Clair County. His first position was at St. Clair County High School where he spent three years.

“I was there when we beat Hazelwood for the state football championship, so that was quite a start for me,” he said. He left St. Clair County to take on a new task at Moody Middle School where he taught. He spent four years at Moody and was an assistant to Coach Wes Simpson. Then, he headed over to Springville Elementary School where he spent over 11 years.

He was the head baseball coach and an assistant football coach at all three schools.

He said when Leeds opened up the new schools and he saw the changes taking place in the area, he felt like the opportunity would be a good one for him and his family. He said his goal, as an assistant principal is to do whatever it takes to make Leeds Middle School successful, which includes meeting AYP. “I just want these kids to know that they have a safe place to come to,” he said. “We want the kids to want to come to school and we want to give them opportunities. With this nice, new building, it includes opportunities that they may not have had before. We want to make it a very safe, but relaxed place where they come and know that will receive a top-notch education.”

Hunter holds a B.S. in physical education from Samford University and received his masters from the University of Alabama. He is presently pursuing an Ed. S. in administrative education.

“I’ve always felt tied to Leeds,” Hunter said, adding Coach Harry Walker was a close family friend who he spent a lot of time with over the years. “I spent a lot of times in Leeds with him and as I got older I played baseball here in the summers. I got to know a lot people and Leeds feels a lot like home.”

He has been married to his wife, Christy, for 18 years. They have three boys, Tanner, Tyler and Thaddeus and each of his boys attends a different school in the system.

Coaching is important to Hunter. He said coaching middle school is definitely different from coaching high school kids. “Sometimes it’s a little more trying, because they don’t know what the older kids know, so you have to spend more time teaching them some of the finer points, some of the basics,” he said. “It is very rewarding though.” He admitted the goal of all coaches is to win, but that he also wants the athletes to learn something. “You want them to learn to be a better person,” he said. “You want them to learn to be a good winner, but also a good loser. That is what life is about. You’re going to have wins and losses in life. You have to learn how to win gracefully and humbly. There is going to be some losses too, but you have to learn how to take them and keep going. You learn a lot about life through sports and there are always going to be some good times and some bad.”

Hunter is an avid sports fan who said he loves to golf and run triathlons in his spare time.

He said a quote he lives by that rings true from his days being coached by others is “Don’t worry about tomorrow. It is going to take care of itself. Also, don’t worry about what has happened in the past. Live for today and don’t sweat the small stuff.”