I’ve written before about Steve Whitley and the positive impact he had on myself as well as countless students.

Most of us were positively influenced by a teacher or educator during our formative learning years.

For me, I had several quality teachers from whom I learned a great deal. It went beyond actual classroom learning when it came to these standout educators.

But the one of the educators I admired the most actually never taught me inside a classroom but he was one of those rare people that I knew was special, even at a young age. Mr. Whitley was the headmaster at Piedmont Academy during my sixth- and seventh-grade years, and even during that relatively short amount of time he taught me a great deal, even at an age when learning was not necessarily my top priority.

Mr. Whitley has been on my mind recently. In fact, each year around this time when I think about those school days from long ago when he was the headmaster and I was a middle school student.

My thoughts focused on a man who would continue to educate me years after I had finished high school and even college.

After two years as headmaster at Piedmont, Mr. Whitley moved on to other ventures in the education profession.

He was young and was still charting his course both professionally and personally I imagine.

I think one of the reasons I related so much to him back during those formative years was the fact he was such a young person himself. He was a firm, but fair, headmaster. He was big on discipline but was never someone I feared or tried to stay away from.

Probably the biggest thing I ever did wrong was run in the hallway, which was one of Mr. Whitley’s “no-no’s” back in the day. One day he saw a friend and I moving rather briskly down the hallway and he yelled for the two of us to go to this office.

“Sit down right there and wait for me to get back,” he told the two of us.

Mr. Whitley then left to tend to some other matters and it seemed like an eter- nity before he came back. When he finally did, he walked into his office and seemed surprised we were in there.

“What are the two of you doing in here?” he asked

We explained it to him to which he replied, “I don’t have time for this, get out of here.”

The anticipation of the punishment turned out to be the punishment and my friend and I definitely learned our lesson from it.

Years later when I began working for The Walton Tribune in Monroe, I went to visit Mr. Whitley who had been working at George Walton Academy as an assistant headmaster. He had been there for a few years and I looked forward to working with and seeing him again.

Mr. Whitley became my go-to person at GWA whenever I needed to talk to a coach or teacher or interview a student.

I wouldn’t have to call ahead. All I had to do was go by his office and he would find the person I needed.

He was the ultimate school leader in my opinion for GWA. Mr. Whitley lived in a small house on the campus so the school was literally his life 24-7.

On various occasions, I had the chance to ride with Mr. Whitley to state soft- ball tournaments or away football games.

During those trips, I would tell him stories of those days he was at Pied- mont and he would often pause, smile, laugh and simply say, “I remember that.”

He would then ask me about various students who attended my school and ask whatever became of them. If I didn’t know I would make it a point to find out so I could tell him.

We had many good talks on those road trips with Mr. Whitley driving and me tagging along as a passenger.

He always would pick up the tab for a meal saying, “As much as you do for our school this I the least I can do for you.”

His passing is still tough to process and it’s even tougher to accept he has been gone a few years now.

Fortunately, I had the chance to tell him many times what he meant to me, both personally and professionally.

One time when he and I were talking to another teacher at GWA I said, “My parents have always said Mr. Whitley was the best headmaster we ever had.”

With his quick wit he responded, “Yeah, but your parents impressed easily. Ah, who am I kidding...they were just telling the truth.” He then broke into laughter before telling me what those words really meant to him.

I always appreciated the person Mr. Whitley was. It seems with each year I find myself appreciating him even more.

Chris Bridges is managing editor of The Walton Tribune and former sports editor of The Covington News.