Inspired by their high school experience, over thirty teachers and faculty returned to work at Robinson. These staff members express their high school memories, favorite classes, inspiring teachers, extracurriculars, school traditions, and senior year events. We thank these faculty members for their continued support of the Robinson community. 

Physical education teacher JD Holder reflects on his experience at Robinson. He was a member of the basketball and football teams and enjoyed weightlifting. Holder also remembers his favorite classes, PE and shop. 

Holder recognizes changes that the school has undergone, physically with the removal of the seating platforms in the main hallway, and in the community. “Clifton used to be thought of as the country,” said Holder. “So anybody who lived in Clifton had big trucks… there was a big grass dirt hill and they would fly up over top of it and leave.” For prom, Holder remembers enjoying the dance with his date Karen. The day after the all night grad party, he went to Ocean City with friends for beach week. 

Holder returned to Robinson to pursue teaching and coaching alongside his former basketball and football coaches. For the senior class, Holder wishes that, “Hopefully you all have a lot of good memories and successful futures.”

Wrestling coach and resource teacher Bryan Hazard graduated in 1991, and has worked at Robinson his whole life. “The Robinson community to me, it’s a special place, I’ve been here 27 years, it’s the only place I’ve ever worked so it’s a place that’s pretty special,” said Hazard. 

Hazard remembers having an amazing high school experience. “I loved Robinson, I was at Robinson events since I was probably one or two years old,” said Hazard. “It was the only place I really wanted to come back to.” He also recognizes that Robinson has changed since his time in high school. “We were blessed that we didn’t have social media… we didn’t get in trouble for as much because we didn’t get caught,” said Hazard. 

As the class president his freshman, junior, and senior year, Hazard was a speaker at graduation. He also remembers a dinner with his extended family the night before graduation and his prom experience. “My parents did chaperone the senior prom… so I had to try to be on my best behavior,” said Hazard.

Our principal, Tracey Phillips, graduated from Robinson in 1993. As a student here, Phillips remembers many of the electives she took and classes she enjoyed. “In middle school I took keyboarding because we had to learn how to type, and I took public speaking,” said Phillips. “English wasn’t necessarily my favorite subject, but [my teacher] made it my favorite class, because of who she was as a person.” Phillips was also a member of the Robinson swim and dive team, and FBLA. “We weren’t as stressed as students are today in regards to what’s next,” said Phillips. 

Phillips remembers her senior year passing quickly and the activities she enjoyed with her friends. At the beginning of the year, she remembers building the senior float with friends. Her class’ prom was held at Westfield Marriott, and their all night grad party was at Audrey Moore Rec Center. 

“You’re getting towards the end, enjoy every last minute,” said Phillips. “You’re going to work for the rest of your life, so take the time to enjoy your time here, but also the time in your next adventure.”

Cara Patno, Robinson class of 1999, was a very involved high school student. She was the class secretary for four years, yearbook co-editor her junior and senior year, and SGA member. During her time at Robinson, she saw the school’s renovations. “They used to have these big circles in the main hallway in front of each of the subschools… we called them mushrooms so you would just sit on them and hang out, but they also definitely impeded the walkway,” said Cara. 

Additionally, technology was very different. “Cell phones were just starting out and we didn’t have laptops, and I think that has definitely changed the environment in the world and in schools,” said Patno.

Patno also remembers speaking at her graduation. “As a class officer I got to sit on the stage and had to speak… that was a little nerve racking,” said Patno. 

In high school Paul Arena was a member of DECA, FBLA, football, and lacrosse teams. He remembers his high school experience as “always on the go… from one thing to the next.” He also enjoyed his entertainment marketing, history classes, and sports training courses. “When you look at what students were doing before my time, during my time, and after my time I feel like it’s similar,” said Arena. 

Arena had a very interesting prom experience, as his limo broke down in the middle of the city while going to the dance. Graduation used to be held in the gym, and Arena remembers how full it was during his graduation.

Douglas Gross graduated in 2002, and remembers his high school friends and the classes he took. “No matter what your thing was, you had a bunch of different groups so you could find something that interests you,” said Gross. “My favorite high school class was probably IB Physics…I’m a big nerd so I liked all of that stuff.”

Gross believes that there are similarities and differences between his time in high school and Robinson now. “I think kids have more freedom, for better or worse,” said Gross. “The culture is very similar.”

His senior year in high school, Gross made memories with friends and his future wife. “Senior year I remember going to all the football games, me and my friends actually drove down to Richmond to watch the state title game.,” said Gross. “My prom date is now my wife.”

Daniel Clements graduated in 2003 and now works as the subschool 11 principal. Clements’ favorite part of high school was baseball and he remembers making the state finals his senior year. “It was really baseball 24/7,” said Clements. “Any extra time I had I was doing [baseball].”

Clements specifically recalls “riding the mechanical bull at the all night grad party” and the positive memories he made during his senior year. After graduating, Clements decided to return to Robinson, ““It’s nice coming back to where you graduated from and feeling like you have somewhat of a positive influence on who you work with, that’s why I’ve wanted to be an assistant principal. I feel like you can do legitimate good with that group.”

Her first day of high school, Special Ed teacher Dani Smith remembers watching High School Musical three in theaters. “We all cried in the movie theater because we didn’t want high school to be over,” said Smith. “It all went really fast towards the end of the year, it was very hard to soak it all in. Graduation I got to sit on state so that was a really unique perspective and for prom I really wish I had stayed longer.”

One change Smith believes the Robinson community has experienced is students becoming more accepting and inclusive. “It’s been really cool to see partners club has turned into a  full class…seeing Fanquest come from that and just the whole student body really embrace the Special Ed population, that’s been a huge change.”

Although Noelle Zorzi is an English teacher at Robinson now, she remembers English classes in high school causing her frustration, and her favorite class was creative writing. “I balanced my life around academics and playing soccer and joining KEY club, NHS, NEHS, and so I didn’t really have a lot of free time,” said Zorzi.

Zorzi also has memories of her experiences in high school. “I remember all of Robinson’s little traditions, like the sunset, senior skip days,” said Zorzi. “The hike where your goal is to leave at 8 am, check into school, drive down to Old Rag, hike the whole thing, drive back to school, and make it before the bell rings.”

English teacher Kate Main graduated from Robinson in 2016 alongside Weldon and Zorzi. She participated in NHS, NEHS, Valor Dictus, and was a member of the Robinson swim and lacrosse teams. “I felt that Robinson built a great community that made my experience even better because I felt like I was on a team and working with others,” said Main. 

Like Weldon, Main realized her ambitions to be an English teacher while in high school. ““IB Lit with Ms. Folton, I always wanted to be a teacher but that solidified for me that I wanted to be an English teacher,” said Main. “It was one of those moments where you look at somebody and you’re like ‘wow, I want to be just like them.’”

As her graduation time approached, Main remembers being with her friends the most. I felt that those were our moments to come together and celebrate everything that we had done together,” said Main. “It didn’t feel real that I was going to be going somewhere in August.

Ashley Weldon was inspired during her time at Robinson to become an English teacher. “My favorite class was probably IB English Lit my junior year,” said Weldon. “It really opened my eyes to how many cool texts there are to read and really what English can provide for you in terms of meaningful life lessons and what it means to be human but also as a feasible career.”

Weldon applauds students in high school now who advocate for themselves more. “Asking for help and questioning things, I think that’s so important, as a student I was always too scared to speak up for myself, and I think that’s so important to do especially in the world today,” said Weldon. 

Looking back on her high school experience, Weldon recalls how quickly her senior year went. “I really wish I had cherished a little bit more what that last year was… but it was fun to be able to celebrate together what we did.”