*Responses in alumni stories spotlights may be lightly edited and cut down for clarity and brevity.

Larry Richardson, the 2026-2027 Teacher of the Year at Bossier Parish School for Technology & Innovative Learning, where he teaches barbering, is a 1998 Danville High School graduate. It’s his second year teaching at Bossier Parish. Before that, he taught for 16 years at Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College. 

Along with teaching barbering, he also volunteers barbering through giving back-to-school haircuts, haircuts for the holidays, and more. He partners his high schoolers with barber colleges to do volunteering and have other opportunities. He’s also been involved with SkillsUSA for four years and has had three college students and one high school student qualify and compete nationally. 

He shared information about his experience in the Danville Independent School District. 

Tell us about your Danville Schools journey. What school(s) did you attend, and what’s a highlight that stands out?

I attended Hogsett and Jennie Rogers, then of course Bate and Danville High. A highlight that stands out — it would probably be, outside of sports, it would probably be Mr. [Bobby] Trumbo’s African American Studies class. He was definitely my favorite. I played football all four years. 

What aspects of your Danville Schools education helped mold you into the person you are today?

Probably being involved in sports, learning discipline, showing up. I felt like I had more of a reason to show up. I don’t think school alone by itself would have done that for me. Since I was an athlete, I was held to a certain standard of respect, discipline. 

Are there specific instances/relationships that stand out to you as having an impact on your success since graduating?

Definitely Mr. Trumbo … He always gave me the idea that I was better than what I made myself out to be. And then he also taught a … class that would get you on track for what you wanted to do for your future, like college, military. Another class that I remember that I really liked … was the drama class. That class actually — it’s funny, because in that class, I did a demonstration of haircuts for one of my assignments. 

What advice would you give to a parent who was choosing an education path for their child?

I would definitely, just through experience, I would definitely try to seek out that child’s best interest, something they’re most interested in and allows them to be free in it, supported — if there’s anything a parent can do to help a child build off of their success. I think in my case, there wasn’t a path for me to go through barbering — which, I was doing it in high school, and I did it in the military, and I finally got licensed once I got out of the military — but anything like, you can hear on our campus, is we ask that the parents support their kids in their journey of technical and career education, whatever that may be. 

As a product of Danville Schools, what drives you to give back to your local school and/or district?

To give back [through barbering] is knowing the way people feel when they look good. It changes them. I think as a barber or a stylist — because I do teach hair, women’s hair as well — when we are able to give back, we reach people in ways others can’t reach them because we physically are in their space for a long period of time, so being able to see where people’s minds are and help them develop a path as well, and just getting to know people and love people … I felt like I had something that I could give back to the community … and I was able to see young men on a pretty rough path like I was as a high school student, and I was able to show them, you don’t have to take that path. There are other paths for us to take. Through barbering, I can reach a lot of young men and women that are going off course and realizing that you don’t have to use the streets, you don’t have to use negativity, to build yourself. You can use barbering to build a career and a family. 

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This piece is part of an ongoing series telling the stories of our Danville Alumni! We share a new alumni story once a month, and we want YOUR story. If you or someone you know is a Danville graduate and an excellent representative of the Danville community and the idea of #SuccessForALL, whether they live in Danville or not, please fill out the form linked below. You can also show your Danville Alumni pride on social media with the hashtag #DanvilleAlumniStories

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