On February 28, Robert Pope joined the ranks of the Leesville Road administration staff. Pope was hired to replace Mrs.Jackson, who left in December.
Pope is the second administrator hired under principal Scott Lyons this year, the first being Sherri Golden.
Prior to his work at Leesville, Pope worked at Southern Nash High School in the same position while coaching the football team for several seasons. Prior to that, he taught Health and Physical Education at Southern Nash Middle School.
Leaving a school in the middle of the year is never easy, and Pope is a testament to this conundrum. “I’ll miss not seeing students graduate that I’d been with for three years. They’ve come a long way, and they’re going to be successful,” he said.
However, Pope is excited to build similar relationships with the students at Leesville.
Pope stated that the main difference between Leesville and Southern Nash is the enrollment size.
Leesville holds around 2,400 students, while Southern Nash had only 1,200. Pope is very excited to meet this new challenge.
Pope attended East Carolina University where he received both his undergraduate and masters degrees, the latter in Administration.
Pope has a friendly personality, a quick sense of humor and an interesting philosophy on high school.
“I want to do everything possible to provide students with the resources and tools to be successful in life,” said Pope.
Leesville has recently been immersed in a massive reshuffling of the administration staff, beginning with the departure of Mrs. Credle, capped off with Mrs. Jackson’s leave in December. In fact, only a single administrator, Dr. Higgins, from the 2007-2008 school year still works at Leesville today.
Pope has several goals for his time at Leesville: “I want the student body and school to be better academically and in character before I leave.”
A worthy goal indeed.
Will Bennett is a remarkable staff writer who was recruited from his early days. In fact, before Bennett could even speak, the Mycenaean took serious interest in him. While many consider this practice to be unethical, the Leesville editors disagree. Alex Stewart claims that his contributions to the staff have been “Pullitzer Prize” worthy.
In addition to his writing, Bennett enjoys animals, Freshberry Frozen Yogurt, Hip-hop music, and long walks on the beach. He can often be found on his seaside estate composing original music, writing moving poetry, and balling with old basketball greats like Larry Bird and Michael Jordan.
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