LaGrange High principal continues family legacy of education

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - This Black History Month, we will be shining the spotlight on African Americans in our community who have made a positive impact on southwest Louisiana.

Taking center stage is Dr. Corwin Robinson, principal at LaGrange High School in Lake Charles.

Most days you can find him dressed in a suit walking the halls of LaGrange High School making sure students are finding themselves on time to their next class.

Dr. Corwin Robinson took on the role of principal for LaGrange, which presented some challenges.

“Initially, having not known the high school that well and knowing it was a turnaround school and most schools, the heartbeat of schools is academics and receiving at least a “B” on their report cards,” Robinson said.

Robinson was tasked with “turning around” the academic performance at the school which was graded a ‘C’ by the state in two consecutive academic sessions, deeming LaGrange as a low-performance school, needing help transforming it’s level of educational achievement.

“One thing I saw was that we need to improve the culture. We need to improve the children getting to school on time, children getting to class on time and then just a complete culture change and mindset change,” Robinson said.

Reshaping the culture comes with a shift in priorities. Each month he holds two separate assemblies for the students to help them map out their futures.

“Get them in a setting at least once a month where it’s all girls there where I can have female role models that come in and speak to them and show them the possibilities and then I can get all of the boys together and have a male role model to come in there and tell them about the possibilities,” Robinson said.

Leading a group of students, nonetheless a group of teenage students, is certainly a labor of love, but it’s what Robinson is most passionate about.

“I really enjoy it. Maybe it’s in my DNA because I really really enjoy it,” Robinson said.

It might just be in his DNA as he comes from a family of educators.

“My dad had three sisters and brothers who become professional career-long educators. My mother was an educator. Her brother was an educator. Her sister was an educator and then my grandmother was an educator,” Robinson said.

Robinson also has a background in the military which he said helped him develop a “no failure attitude.”

“My goal is and I know that we will accomplish it, that we will be at least a ‘B’ school and by the end of next year we will be an ‘A’ school. We have to do it and we’re going to do it, we’re just putting everything in order to accomplish those things,” Robinson said.

Robinson said since he’s taken the job, he’s already seen great improvements in the students’ outlook on their education.

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