Thomas Richard Robinson High School

Infobox School
name = Thomas Richard Robinson High School


motto = "Pride Through Excellence"
established =
type = Public
affiliation =
district =
grades =
principal = Laura Zavatkay
head of school =
dean =
faculty =
staff =
students =
enrollment = 1,270 students
athletics =
colors = Black and silver
mascot = Knight
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location = Tampa, Florida
information =
website = http://robinsonhs.mysdhc.org/

Thomas Richard Robinson High School was established in 1958 on South Lois Avenue in Tampa, Florida, United States. The school is named in honor of Thomas Richard Robinson, a lifetime educator in Hillsborough County who began teaching in 1917.

The school's media center was named after former principal, Kevin J. McCarthy on January 19, 2004. McCarthy made many strides to improve the school's literacy levels; which included the application of a grant to update the media center's books and technologies. McCarthy died in November 2003 due to a heart attack [Colavecchio-Van Sickler, Shannon. [http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/06/Floridian/At_one_high_school__g.shtml At one high school, grief comes too often] . "St. Petersburg Times." 2005-03-06.] ; however, the grant from New York Life was obtained by the school around October of the same year.

The school is currently the smallest high school in all of Hillsborough County, despite expansions during the 1960s and 1970s, the addition of the IB program, and numerous renovations.

IB Program

The IB's fundraiser of the year 1n April 2007, Adopt-a-Minefield, raised money and sent it to Ethiopia to help remove land mines.

Notable alumni

*Terry Bollea, professional wrestler who used the alias "Hulk Hogan".

* Steven M. Evarts, drafted by the Atlanta Braves and is now in their minor leagues system. As of June 2007, Evarts is listed as an active player for the Danville Braves in the Advanced Rookie Appalachian League.
* John Reaves- quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles.

* Larry Smith- Running back for the Los Angeles Rams.

*Dewey Mitchel- Judo Olympian

*Delbert Alvarado- University of South Florida primary kicker and punter. ["USF". [http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=37330&SPID=2981&DB_OEM_ID=7700&ATCLID=508806&Q_SEASON=2007 Delbert Alvarado Bio] . 2006-07-20.]

*Marcello Trigg- Bucknell University Quarterback [ [http://bucknellbison.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/trigg_marcello00.html Player Bio: Marcello Trigg] . Retrieved 2008-08-17.] .

*Javier Arenas- University of Alabama Crimson Tide Defensive Back. [ [http://alabama.rivals.com/cviewplayer.asp?Player=63681 Javier Arenas- Alabama Football] . Retrieved 2008-08-24.]

chool controversy

In recent years, a number of deaths have been related Robinson High.

*Former student Andrew J. Aviles killed in Iraq two weeks before his 19th birthday. Aviles was an 18 year-old former wrestler, race and track team member, student body president, member of the National Honor Society, NJROTC cadet, and all around student died April 7,2002 He was a Marine Reservist, who was about to start classes toward a business degree at Florida State University with a full academic scholarship. He was killed in Iraq when enemy fire hit his vehicle as it crossed a bridge over the Dilaya River. [Donley, Melissa. [http://media.www.fsunews.com/media/storage/paper920/news/2003/04/17/News/Tampa.Marine.Killed.In.Action-2364504.shtml Tampa Marine killed in action] . FSUnews.com. 2003-04-17.]

*In October 2003, PFC Derek Bennett died from unexplained circumstances in his barracks while serving in the US Army at Fort Huachuca, AZ. While at Robinson, Derek played soccer and was the ROTC Battalion Commander. He graduated in 1999.

*In 2003, the school's principal, Dr. Kevin McCarthy, died from a brain aneurysm while he drove his family to church. McCarthy was most notable for his efforts to combat low literacy rates at Robinson and for starting the "Robinson Reads" program at the school. He also began efforts for the recent New York Life grant, mentioned above.

*Kwane Doster was shot and killed in 2004. He was a former standout running back at Robinson High and was the SEC rookie of the year in 2003. He played for Vanderbilt University where he was a star running back. His brother Jermaine is a standout running back at Robinson and will attend Vanderbilt University to follow in his brother's footsteps.

*Two days after the death of Doster, Johnathon Simmons was shot and killed. Simmons, a freshman, was 15 at the time and a budding star on the basketball team.

*In February 2007 Chris Anderson died in a motorcycle accident.

*Sammy Santilli was killed by lightning on Treasure Island in June 2007. Sammy was never a student at Robinson.

*Logan Ray died from a dirtbike accident in March of 2007.

*Tyler Wallace 12/27/2007 passed away.

*Maeghan Simpson un-natural causes.

In 2001, Nicole "Nikki" Youngblood sued the school when she was not allowed to wear male attire for her senior yearbook photo. [Brink, Graham. [http://www.sptimes.com/2002/06/20/TampaBay/Lesbian_sues_over_att.shtml Lesbian sues over attire for yearbook] . "St. Petersburg Times". 2002-06-20.]

ister School

Robinson's campus design was used on King High School in northeast Tampa. Though the two schools opened within two years of each other the layout and size of King are different than Robinson's. This is especially true being that King is a much larger high school than Robinson.

Athletics

In 2007-2008, Robinson's track team made an appearance at the FHSAA 2A State Championship, but not before their 4×800 meter relay team, consisting of Matthew Altimari, Adriano Vella, and Darrin and Terril Gibson defeated Jesuit, for first place, in District and Regionals. Robinson would take 5th place at the state meet while Jesuit would win it. [Burns, Bryan. [http://http://blogs.tampabay.com/preps/2008/04/jesuit-takes-fi.html Jesuit takes first in 4x800 relay] . "St. Petersburg Times". 2008-04-26. ] Darrin Gibson would take 3rd place in the 800 meter individually.

Band

The Robinson High School Marching Knights are currently directed by Jeremy D. Klein who has recently received numerous rewards for improving the band program. He led his students to victory on April 18, 2008 at the Florida State Music Performance Assessment in which the band received three straight Superior ratings, the highest score possible. [Tucker, Lauren. [http://www.fjmclinics.com/admin/newsletters/April_May_Clinic_Chronicle.pdf April_May_Clinic_Chronicle] . "FJMClinics". 2008]

References

External links

* [http://robinsonhs.mysdhc.org/ Robinson High School (HCPS)] School website.
* [http://www.robinsonhighschool.org/ T.R. Robinson High School Alumni Association] Official RHS Alumni Association website.