Mike Roberson is one of the assistant principals you see walking the halls. He works with students with the last names P-Z and can be seen enjoying surfing, his family, and the outdoors.
Favorite subject when you were in school?
Science because I love nature and being outdoors. I was a former Earth Science teacher so definitely science.
Favorite artist?
I have a wide variety of tastes but Billy Strings is my current favorite. I also really like Third Eye Blind.
If you could do anything on your weekend, what would it be?
I like to travel, camp and surf so any of those.
Favorite memory from the building?
When we had to move buildings we had to box all our stuff up and write our new room numbers on the boxes. We had a teacher back then that just boxed up everything in his room whether he wanted it or not. Then he shipped it to everybody’s classrooms, so we would open boxes he got delivered to our classrooms full of trash or junk from his room. Most of it should have just been thrown away. But one thing he sent me were boxes of National Geographic magazines from 1930-1940. Probably worth money now. That was kind of funny.
Positive change you’ve noticed in recent years?
COVID messed things up so you know, things getting back to normal probably is the best change. I think kids being kids again, and being in school and being engaged and we’ll do all their activities. High school should be a very positive, beneficial experience and it struggled there for a couple of years. I felt bad for those students who kind of missed out. So it’s good that we seem to be finally going back to normal.
Favorite school event?
I love going to all the sporting events and the musicals. Those are always a highlight. If I had to narrow it down to just one thing, it would be orientations. I like orientations because kids are coming back and they’re all excited and eager to come back to school. So I enjoy seeing the building come back to life because we’re here all summer and it gets kind of slow and quiet. So that’s probably the coolest that we see each year.
Three things to a desert island?
A surfboard, fresh water and my wife.
Favorite family memories?
We camp a lot in the summer, so probably our best trip ever was we circled the U.P. and camped along Lake Superior the whole way around. So that was super fun. We also had a trip out to Acadia National Park. That was a lot of fun.
If you won a million dollars?
I would probably pay off all my debt and then buy a little place somewhere tropical.
What concerts have you been to?
Last weekend, I was at a music festival called Oceans Calling in Ocean City, Maryland. It was about 30 hours of music over the course of the weekend. The headliners were Jack Johnson and John Mayer and the Lumineers, plus Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, Wallflowers, Third Eye Blind, and Weezer. So that was a super cool event.
Favorite Grand Haven activity?
I actually live downtown so one of my favorite things about Grand Haven is the Mulligan’s hollow ski bowl. You can be at the skatepark, snowboard, ski bowl and surf all the same day, all within a half a mile of each other.
Where do you go out to eat on a Friday night?
We usually get pizza and eat in.
Small business you love to support?
Fortino’s.
What’s a bucket list item for you?
I would love to travel more internationally.
What’s something no one would expect you to have done?
I used to do a lot of triathlons back in the day and I’ve done a couple Ironman races.