This school year has already seen an abundance of change in the administration and more is on its way. Mrs. Redfield, a former assistant principal, became the interim principal and Mr. Robertson, a former AP European History and Anthropology teacher, became an interim assistant principal. At the end of this semester, Mrs. Redfield will return to her old position to make way for the new principal, Dr. Brockett, and Mr. Robertson will be leaving the school to become an interim assistant principal at Valley Middle School.

“I’m excited,” Robertson said. “I get to learn what it’s like to work with middle school kids, an age group which I’ve never worked with before. That will be a new learning experience. After that semester, I really don’t know.” 

Although he is unsure of his future in the next school year, Mr. Robertson would like to continue working as an administrator. He also hopes to return to CHS, which is where he went to high school and is the only school he has ever taught in.

“I think that if I could write my own future, years and years from now I’d like to be the principal of Carlsbad High School,” Robertson said. “Not right now, I just don’t have the experience, but I’d like to do that.”

Mr. Robertson is not entirely done with teaching, however. He would like to return to CHS someday and speak to different classes about subjects he is interested in and used to teach.

“If I was able to come back to Carlsbad High School in whatever capacity, I think what I would like to do from time to time would be to go be a guest lecturer on a topic or subject that I have a lot of expertise in,” Robertson said. “I’m a big dinosaur enthusiast and I have a lot of knowledge regarding that. I also really like teaching primatology and I have a lot of different insights on that where I can inspire kids and help kids with it.”

Another administrator who experienced a big change in position was Mrs. Redfield. She has served as interim principal for the first semester and previously worked as an assistant principal for four years.

“My main goal was to make the transition smooth from the beginning of the year to Dr. Brockett,” Redfield said. “I think that I’ve been able to do that and make it a seamless transition.”

Mrs. Redfield enjoyed her time as interim principal because it let her experience the school in a different way.

“I loved it,” Redfield said. “It was great to have a different role and responsibilities. I felt like I was able to connect more with the staff as a principal. I was also able to be more out and about and be more in the classrooms and not only engage more with the staff but also with students in a different environment.”

For Mrs. Redfield, her job is all about the students. She really enjoys that aspect of her career.

“What I love about my job is being able to be around students,” Redfield said.

Mr. Robertson has a similar approach to his job. To him, being an assistant principal is not about punishing students, it is about building relationships.

“What we’re trying to do is make connections with kids and let them know that we’re someone they can come to for advice or if they have something to talk about and break that stigma that assistant principals are someone they go see if they’re in trouble,” Robertson said. “I try to have conversations with kids that are positive.”

Even though Mrs. Redfield and Mr. Robertson worked in new positions this semester, their overall role remained the same. As administrators, they are supposed to empower students and give them a safe learning environment, which they have both worked to do.

“We really care about kids and want them to make good decisions,” Robertson said. “[We want to] put them in positions to make good decisions.”