Larry Haynes has served as principal at Oak Mountain Middle School in Shelby County since 2004. He is currently on the Council for Leaders in Alabama School (CLAS) Board of Directors and serves on the Board for the Alabama Association for Middle School Principals (AAMSP), where he is a past president of the organization. He previously served as an assistant principal at Oak Mountain High School and prior to that taught U.S. History, English, journalism and broadcasting at Montevallo High School, also in Shelby County. During his tenure at Montevallo, the bi-weekly newspaper, SPOTLIGHT, and student newscast, MHS News, earned numerous state and national awards. Dr. Haynes served two years as president of the Alabama Scholastic Press Advisors Association and was named Journalism Advisor of the Year by ASPA in 1996. At the national level, he received Columbia University’s Gold Key Award in 2001.