Mike Turner takes over as principal at Pinson Valley High
Mike Turner is now the big man on campus, in more ways than one.
The 6-foot-4 former college basketball player cuts an imposing figure, whether he is walking the halls of Pinson Valley High School as its new principal, or introducing himself to city officials.
Turner met Mayor Hoyt Sanders, city council members and town residents during the council’s regular session Thursday night. By his side was someone who was already familiar to many in attendance — his wife Sherea Harris-Turner, a reporter for Fox-6 television. They married in 2012, and are expecting their first child shortly.
Turner comes to Pinson Valley after four years as principal at Leeds High School, and before that at Leeds Middle. He taught at Fairfield High for three years after finishing his own education at nearby Miles College. He also worked for a non-profit organization after leaving Fairfield, then returned to education at Minor.
He also coached basketball along the way, winning a state championship at Leeds in 2009. He coached the Green Wave in two separate stints, the latter while also serving as principal — an unusual arrangement that the system’s superintendent agreed to in order to get Turner to move up from the middle school.
Turner takes over the PVHS principal’s job from Dr. Terrence Brown, who has been moved to the Jefferson County Schools central office as the new director of arts education.