Every weekend, principal Paul Robinson sits down in his office to write his widely read “Week at a Glance” emails that go out to parents, students and staff. He thinks of them as his “personal columns,” or his way of channeling his college-era journalistic pursuits.
Robinson, who was an English major, said he debated between becoming a teacher or a newspaper journalist. He ultimately found that he enjoyed working with high school students and being involved with activities, and did not want to be limited to the world of journalism.
“This is my way of completing that journalistic dream,” Robinson said. “You guys are my weekly column. I get to write a weekly thing and blast it out to a lot of people.”
During his weekly mid-morning Friday meetings in the office, Robinson listens to the directors of the various departments around school, including athletic director Tim Lugo, assistant principal Kerry Mohnike and maintenance and facilities director Brian Moran, among others, to obtain information for his email.
Students, teachers and community members also update him on their latest news. He compiles schedules of all of the campus activities’ calendars, such as music, theater and robotics as well as their successes.
“I like to know what’s happening, so I like to show up and cheer people on and be there for these things,” Robinson said.
During weeks that are packed with events, Robinson said it sometimes requires him longer to compose the “Week at a Glance” email. He takes time to think about what he wants to write and tries to make it “as informative or inspirational [as I can]; I just try to be true to what’s going on here at school.”
ASB secretary junior Jolyn Tran is one of the many students who enjoy receiving the “Week at a Glance” emails.
“I read them pretty often, almost every week. I actually think they are pretty interesting,” Tran said. “Most of the time I don’t really know what’s going on within the school that doesn’t pertain to Leadership, so it’s nice to get the emails.”
Six years ago, during Robinson’s first year as principal at the school, he sent the emails about once a month, but decided that they weren’t frequent enough to convey everything that goes on here.
He uses a program called School Messenger to send out these emails to parents. However, he was originally not aware that the emails were being sent to students as well.
“When I found out, I wasn’t sure if I should keep sending them to students or not, but students let me know they like knowing what is going on around here,” Robinson said.
Robinson often gets emails from alumni or their parents asking if they can still receive the “Week at a Glance” emails so they can stay updated with important events in the community. When Robinson gets these emails, he gladly adds them to his list of people he send his emails to.
“[Writing the weekly emails] is fun for me,” he said. “I like talking about some of the great things going on here, but also the hard things, things we need to work on because you guys are great to work with. We’re not perfect, but we try and that's all anybody can ask.”