Mr. Stephens was in education for 37 years. He graduated from East Texas State University which is now Texas A&M-Commerce. From 1966-1979 he served at Travis Junior High as a teacher and coach. When he was at Travis, Crockett was the biggest competitor. It was the Crockett Volunteers against the Travis Texans. "There was a lot of spirit at both schools and we were very competitive against one another," he said. "We did a lot of silly things to get our kids fired up, and to ret rid of that cross-town rivalry was one of the best things we did in PISD."

He served as assistant principal at Paris High for a couple of years. He became the assistant principal of Justiss Elementary in 1983 and two weeks later he became the principal of the same school. In 1993 he became the principal of Crockett and he served in that capacity through 2004.

His fondest memory is his 50th birthday when the students walked quietly down the hall to assemble in the gym. Assistant Principal David Stevens wheeled Mr. Stephens towards the students where they surprised him by singing, "Happy Birthday".

He thinks that students are much brighter now than they were when he was in seventh grade. He said his biggest challenge was to provide an environment where students can be successful regardless of their level or capabilities.