Photo by Gabriel Pizzolatto
By Gabriel Pizzolatto
On the second floor of the Elijah J. Brimmer, Jr. campus, there is an office with walls covered in Star Wars posters, and a desk covered in movie memorabilia. This room is tucked away in the back corner of the main office and is occupied by the Willow School’s new principal, Mr. Robert Hill. Principal Hill is most likely the biggest Star Wars fan you will ever meet.
And he will bring some of that joy in entertainment to the job. Principal Hill’s focus this year is to create a more fun environment than there has been in previous years. There are many projects in the works to help establish the fun environment that the students want and which Mr. Hill envisions. One of these is the Friday Show, which Mr. Hill made an appearance on in recent weeks.
Principal Hill discovered his passion for teaching while tutoring as a side gig while getting his major in engineering at the University of New Orleans.
“After substituting for a colleague teaching a calculus class, I got hooked and got a degree in educational leadership,” Hill said. He then worked as a teacher for seven years until becoming an assistant principal for three years and then a principal for 10n years. Most recently, he was teaching at Haynes Academy, until he heard about the open position at Willow and jumped on the opportunity.
So, what does a typical day in the life of Principal Hill look like?
He gets to school at 6:30 everyday, before many students have even woken up. He spends the next hour and 15 minutes walking around the school and making sure everything is ready for the day. Then he greets the students with a “What’s up!” at the front entrance. Next, he spends some time speaking with parents on phone calls and answering important emails. At 9:35, he heads to his advisory class and has some fun with his students. The rest of his day is spent at meetings and sitting in on classes whenever he can. He recently sat in on Dr. J.’s class, who pleasantly surprised him by playing the Star Wars theme song.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Principal Hill has a Star Wars Obsession. In addition to the posters on his office walls,his desk is filled with Star Wars toys, such as a Yoda voice box. His favorite movie is The Empire Strikes Back, and he has a custom-made lightsaber, which he showed off on the Friday Show recently. He is very proud of his lightsaber, which is a replica of Obi-Wan’s lightsaber in Episode II. The lightsaber has a purple blade to match Principal Hill’s favorite character, Mace Windu, of whom he has a full costume that he wears to Comic-Con most years.
Principal Hill is very optimistic about this school year. He’s very excited that the senior class can finally have a home football game this year with the field finished. He has set high expectations for Willow students this year, saying, “I expect a huge amount from you guys because you all can deliver. I’ve never seen a place– and I’ve worked in a lot of places–with so much instructional talent and student talent in one place.”
