After the leave of APC Jennifer Rosage, AP for Student Affairs Christopher Pettit got promoted to the new AP or Curriculum. So, that means a new AP for Student Affairs was needed.

Now, Robinson High School welcomes new assistant principal, Kevin Norton. He has been associated with the education system for a while now and finds home at the “R”. Let’s take a closer look and get to know Norton a little better.

Where are you from?

“Born and raised [in Tampa, FL, and] I graduated from Plant City High School.”

What is your education background?

“I was an English major. I taught English at Alonso High School for 13 years. I got a masters in education leadership and then I was also an assistant principal in Marion County for the last four years.”

Why did you move back into Hillsborough county?

“Well it’s home, first off, so my family is here. My wife and I wanted to be closer to family and friends and I wanted to come back to a high school; I was at a middle school.”

What do you do for fun?

“A lot of the stuff I do, you probably wouldn’t find interesting, but I do play video games and travel[ing] is probably the thing I do most for fun. I have taught a year in the Japanese public school system. I have lived in Europe, I’ve been to Central America, and I just like traveling.”

Why Robinson out of all the schools?

“I did have a choice. One, I have connections here. My father taught here around 20 years ago. I was hired by a principal at Robinson, when she moved over to Alonso, Dr. Bunkin, who was a principal here [at Robinson]. [Also,] a lot of my friends that are teachers taught here and I visited here when I was a district mentor. [Finally,] I like the school, the area, and the students.”

What is your discipline philosophy?

“My discipline philosophy is to take each student as an individual and each incident…to find what whatever it is to fit whatever the student needs. So, if they’re in my office because they’re showing up tardy to class, then I need to find out why… I’m sure there are reasons why, and I can work on whatever solution is going to fit them.”

What is a goal of yours for the RHS school year?

“To help students do better in classes by being in class. Help the procedures for all the portables and all that. It’s a tough position, so I want to help and encourage students be in class, the full amount of class. I think you can’t learn if you aren’t actually in the seat, so… one of the big things is to increase everybody’s academic performance by helping you and encouraging you to be in class.”