This fall will mark the 30th anniversary for one of Roosevelt’s beloved staff members, Mr. Carlton.

Since Mr. Carlton started at Roosevelt 30 years ago, he has offered help and support to so many students over the years and is instrumental in the school’s operation.

Many things have changed throughout the years at RHS. Students have graduated, teachers have began careers or retired; despite this, when asked in an interview, Mr. Carlton told me that “[even though] a lot of things have changed, obviously updating with technology, and the times, and things like that; I think a lot of the personalization and the traditions that Roosevelt has, have stayed the same. Obviously updated technology is a huge challenge, but working with kids, just investing in them has stayed the same over the years.”

Mr. Carlton started in the fall of 1992, and since then he has interacted with many teachers and students over the years and has learned many things from them.

Carlton stated, “it’s interesting, you know when I started obviously I was the younger teacher that was here, and I learned an awful lot from veterans that had been teaching for years: things that they did, how they did it, and just advice; but I find also that in the latter part of my career, I am doing the same thing, just with younger teachers, [learning] new and updated ideas, and different philosophies, and technology. But also with a little more experience, I was able to offer some things, more things, to the younger staff.”

When someone works a single job for as long as Mr. Carlton, a common question that may come up is “do you have any plans on retiring?” He assured me that, “right now, [he has] no plans of retiring or anything like that,” and that he plans to continue at Roosevelt for hopefully many more years into the future.

When asked about his upcoming years he said, “[for him] each year is a new challenge, the last few years with covid obviously have made education look completely different then it ever has before, even as challenging as it is though, I think that as long as I am affective and I keep finding reward in what I do, then I will continue, who knows how many years more!”