Tim Winter. The man, the myth and the legend, is leaving the school for good. After 13 years, Winter is going to be the superintendent at Clarkston County, where he can hopefully make that school district the best it can be. His trademark slogan “Be Awesome” will remain in these halls to give inspiration to everyone who comes through this school.

Be Awesome, a two word phrase that can mean so many different things to so many different people, originally started it’s journey in a book called Love Does where Winter and the rest of the administrative team first formed the idea, “…the Be Awesome thing was actually in a book I read  called Love Does that had a phrase, a section in there that was about be awesome and we had, as a leadership team, been talking about this idea that every school has a mission statement or a vision but nobody really knows what that is and so we really thought it was important to have something that people could latch onto and that people understand,” Winter said. “So we chose ‘Be Awesome’ because it was two words that could mean so many things to so many people but it also goes back to just doing your very best and being the best you can be and taking every day one day at a time.”

Although Winter has had a huge impact on the school, the students and staff that he sees everyday, it is Sammy the Seahawk that put a face to the Be Awesome campaign, “…you know we’ve never really had a specific mascot and so I went to Mr. Hall and asked him if he would draw kind of a friendly, cartoony looking mascot, so through a couple of different drafts he came up with that and I thought [of adding] the sailor hat because we’re on the water. That was the original part of it. That was the whole idea of the Peninsula Proud, and really trying to build pride in our school and the community to raise our reputation,” Winter said. “We really felt like we had a great place but nobody really knew about it, so we were trying to promote it.”

This school’s reputation has gone from being underestimated and undervalued, to becoming an overwhelming success.

“I think the reputation within the community has changed. You see the Peninsula Proud stickers around town, I think that’s a sign that people are very proud of our school; that we have a good reputation, that there are great teachers and great students.I think that we are achieving good results too,” Winter said.

Through his ability to communicate with students Winter has been able to build relationships that will last a lifetime. His favorite part about working here has simply been seeing the students.

“I would say my favorite thing about being here has just been everyday coming to work with 1,300 plus high school students has been pretty awesome. That’s the fun part of the job is just being with students and getting to know them,” Winter said. “They keep us young and energized, no two days are the same and that’s been the best.”

In the end, Winter has been a great influence to the school and its students, his new job as the Superintendent of the Clarkston School District will be a great new adventure for him and will be a great benefit to the students and staff there.