I often went to Cairo last semester as part of The Cairo Project, a project from a multimedia journalism course dedicated to telling the stories of the town. I chose not to spend all of my time photographing dilapidated buildings. Instead, I decided to focus my time and energy on finding people who were trying to improve the situation in Cairo.

I found coach Larry Baldwin.

Dean of students, athletic director, basketball coach – those are some of Baldwin’s formal titles. Above all, Baldwin, a native of Cairo, is a friend and positive role model for the students at Cairo High School. When Baldwin is not busy fulfilling his duties at the high school, he can often be found patrolling the streets in his car, making sure all of his students stay on the right path.

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“What I’ve always tried to do is to make a difference in someone that needed some support,” Baldwin said. “If you could say something, or just be there, just be a presence that they respect and admire, then maybe, just maybe, it might cause them to stay on the straight and narrow.”

Baldwin spends much of his time at school and basketball practices talking to students such as Marquis Lemmon, a junior at Cairo High School. You see them talking about keeping up with schoolwork here during an open gym at the high school.

Baldwin has coached for nearly 24 years, and has been told numerous times that he should retire. But Baldwin is not ready for retirement.

“Coaching has been my life,” Baldwin said, “You don’t stop living just because you get sick. You don’t stop living just because you’ve reached a certain age. You continue to live.

“So I just continue to coach because its always been a part of my life, and I love it.”