Robinson’s makeover and rebuilding process has been nearly completed as of late, however, one section of the school stays untouched. Permanently stuck in the 1970s, the bathrooms in the lobby of the auditorium and gym have sat untouched despite the rest of the school seeing upgrades. Being the area of the school most seen by visitors and parents while attending sporting events and various performances, Principal David Brown thought it was best that Robinson make a continuous effort to put their best foot forward.
“I wanted some clubs, some students to leave their mark on the school,” Brown said. “We got remodeled, but there are some places they didn’t touch… I just felt as though they needed sprucing up.”
The largest of Robinson’s many clubs, Knightmare was decidedly the best suited for the task. Knightmare President Mina Kuklen (’24) was excited to leave a lasting mark on the school.
“He [Brown] simply just wanted the bathrooms to look nicer and we could use our creativity to create a new space for visitors and students to enjoy when getting a glimpse of Robinson,” Kuklen said. “The project that was asked of us was to renovate the bathrooms in whatever way we wanted. Both bathrooms are filled with two different themes. The boys’ bathroom is space-themed, while the girls are beach/ocean-themed. The bathrooms are very different from one another and required lots of hard work.”
The renovation is not limited to aesthetics, however. The club will also be re-vamping the appliances in these last-century lavatories, not just painting the walls and the stalls.
“For the boys, they painted the entire ceiling, added planets, painted stalls, changed the mirrors and more. For the girl’s bathroom, they drew murals on the stalls, changed the mirrors and drew many designs all over the bathroom. The project is still a work in progress, so we still have lots to do such as fixing the toilet seats and the soap dispensers,” Kuklen said.
In any free time they have in their already packed schedules, Kuklen and her Vice President, Nate Clement (’25) bring in their club members and arm them with paintbrushes and screwdrivers.
Heading the space-themed men’s restroom, Clement wants these new restrooms to make Robinson stand out to visiting teams and parents as the spirited community it is.
“It promotes a cool conversation around school and creates a little bit of excitement and spirit whenever you go in them,” Clement said. “I think it’s also cool for someone who doesn’t come to Robinson …. to see the school spirit that we have here.”
This simple yet rewarding project gives the students in Knightmare a chance to leave their mark on the school and South Tampa.
“When kids take time and invest in their school, they take great pride in that and they did a great job with these restrooms,” Brown said.
