At the start of the year, many students weren’t familiar with the new principal who arrived from Freedom’s rival school, Wharton. It didn’t take long for Patriots to recognize the friendly face patrolling the halls or visiting classrooms. Mr. Stephenson, although new at taking on the role of a principal, had a very successful year here at Freedom. Since he worked at Wharton for 16 years, coming to Freedom was definitely a change.

“It’s a big difference because it was a different position for me. I was an assistant principal there and I came over here to be a principal. On paper, our two schools look the same, as far as demographics and population and performance but it’s really quite different here in terms of the culture and student population,” said the Principal.

When asked about the difficulties of assimilating into a new school, Stephenson described it as somewhat challenging but rewarding.

“It’s definitely been a challenge in terms of learning the new job. Being a principal is very demanding versus being an assistant principal. Coming to a new school where I didn’t really know anyone or know where any of the buildings were, that’s been the hardest challenge. Building relationships with students, teachers, and parents has been a challenge but overall, it’s been a great experience,” said Mr. Stephenson.

The Principal has many optimistic plans for the 2016-2017 school year and plans to shed light on the many positive aspects of Freedom.

“There are a lot of great things happening here that a lot of people don’t get to hear about or know about so that’s something we should work on for next year so that the community knows about all the good things that happen here,” said Mr. Stephenson.

The amount of changes made by Mr. Stephenson this year was minimal but he plans to make some positive changes around campus next year.

“We didn’t make a whole lot of changes other than the procedural changes. Some of which we were told to change by the district. In terms of where I want to make changes for next year, I want to do a lot more school spirit activities where the student government is more involved,” said Mr. Stephenson. “The student government should be helping make decisions here on campus in terms of an advisory panel type relationship with the administration. I want to see teachers taking ownership of programs we have going on such as attendance incentives or the behavior plans for the entire school. We will also work on the campus to make it cleaner and safer for everyone but it takes more than a couple teachers or a couple administrators. It takes all of us to do that heavy lifting.”

Mr. Stephenson also plans to make changes on the football field and has hired a new coach to hopefully lead the Patriots Football team to many wins next season.

“He’s coming from Steinbrenner and has been in another state coaching for the past couple of years and now he’s here so he’s definitely going to build the program and have a positive impact on the school,” said Mr. Stephenson.

Not only is the Principal going to make positive changes for the students but he plans to increase teacher recognition as well.

“I plan to have more theme-days next year to increase school spirit and have more recognition for students who participate. I also hope to have more recognition for teachers similar to the honor roll parties for the students,” said Mr. Stephenson. “I really want to get students excited about being students here, excited to be a Freedom Patriot.”