The summer has ended and we’re back at school. Though, our school seems to have changed a bit while students were off tanning and vacationing. Freedom High School has a new principal. His name is Kevin Stephenson.

So far, Mr. Stephenson is enjoying being a Freedom Patriot. “The kids are friendly. It is a lot different here than at Wharton.” he said. Mr. Stephenson is coming to us from Wharton High School, where he worked for 16 years.

“I was a social studies teacher for eight years, I was in the student affairs office for five, and I was the Assistant Principal of Curriculum for three” he explained. The APC is the AP in charge of electives; Freedom’s APC is Mr. Matthew Smith.

Mr. Stephenson has big plans for Freedom, he wants to improve many things like our school spirit and how the school looks to the community. Improving our school’s image involves several different things. Such as, the new addition of security cameras to help stop theft in our school, the new lunch area, and cracking down more on dress code, much to the student body’s dismay.

“Dress code has a big impact on the way our school is viewed” he explained. If our dress is better, our school image is better which can amount to better things in the long run.

And to answer the question all upperclassmen are wondering: yes, Mr. Stephenson plans on staying at Freedom for a long time. “I’ve put a fish tank in my office so…” he stated. His goal is to stay until the current freshman class has graduated, maybe even longer.

Mr. Stephenson is a graduate of Leto High School and went to The University of South Florida for his undergraduate and masters degrees. In high school he was a member of the marching band in which he played the trumpet. He has two children, Oliver in second grade and Stella in fourth, who go to school in the area and a wife who teaches at Citrus Park elementary. “I’m trying to get them [his kids] into fishing but, I’m still looking for a nice place to fish” he said.

Students are thrilled to welcome Mr. Stephenson into the Freedom family and are excited to see what he does to make our school even better in the eyes of the students and the community.