ROBERTSDALE, Alabama — Craig Ross, the new principal at Robertsdale High, is not your typical high school administrator, as he recently spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Cozumel, Mexico, competing in an Ironman Triathlon.

“Competing in triathlons is a way of building my own confidence,” Ross said. “A full Ironman starts with a two-and-a-half mile swim in open water, which is followed by a 112-mile bike race, with the finishing touch being a full 26-mile marathon.” Ross has competed in three Ironman triathlons.

A native of Ft. Wayne, Ind., Ross completed both his bachelors and masters degrees at the University of Indiana.

“What brought my wife Angela and I south had to do with her being accepted into the neuro-psychology program at Auburn, where she completed her Ph.D.,” he said. “Approximately 120 people applied for a slot in the program of which only five were chosen. She was one of those taken, so we moved from Indiana to Auburn to fulfill her goal of earning her PhD.”

Ross said his wife received an offer to work with the Veterans Administration about the same time he received an offer from the Baldwin County School System to accept an assistant principal’s position at Spanish Fort Middle School. He had been working with a blue-ribbon school in Auburn prior to their move.

“I’ve had the course work on my own Ph.D. finished for some time now,” he said. “All I need to do is wrap up my dissertation, which is on leadership within education, and I should be finished. From that point, all I have to do is go up to Auburn and defend it.”

Craig and Angela have two children, Sam, a freshman at USA and Lilly, who is in the eighth grade at Spanish Fort Middle.

“Since coming to Robertsdale I’ve been overwhelmed with the positive response from the students, faculty, and community,” he said. “When students come up to you in the hallway, shake you by the hand, and welcome you to RHS that tells me these kids are very well-mannered”

Ross said his primary goal was to empower his faculty and staff as leaders who have as their goal an increased sense of collaboration.

“I always believed for a leader to be successful you need to surround yourself with talented, successful people, empower them so that they are able to work independently and allow them to do what they are best at.” he said.

Another goal is to turn RHS into a blue ribbon school, where excellence is the norm and not an occasional blip on the radar.

“Our Naval Jr. ROTC is an example of that,” he said. “For 10 years straight they have been acknowledged as the number one unit in the state. I want to see such a consistency of excellence that when we receive an award it’s something that was expected. That’s the way it was in the school in Auburn, and I want to see that attitude of excellence take root here as well. I want us to establish a benchmark of excellence that filters down into the classroom and to the students as well.”

Ross said being principal at RHS was living his dream.

“Robertsdale is such a great community,” he said. “Many of our student’s parents graduated from here as well. With positive community support there’s no end to the kind of things we can accomplish.”

Running a 6-A school the size of Robertsdale is much like being the mayor of a small city with a similar population.

“I’ve read a ton of books about leadership in both the business world, as well as that of education, while doing research on my dissertation,” he said. “I feel that one of my jobs is to teach my faculty and staff how to lead, because if we can lead our students in a positive way these kids can accomplish anything they set out to try.”

Ross linked it to his own triathlon competition.

“Some people will look at something and say they can’t do it. I did when I first thought about competing in an Ironman. The more I thought about it, and when I learned that only one percent of the world’s population has ever attempted one, I knew I wanted to try. That’s what I want our students to do. Try things. Go out on a limb and attempt them,” he said. “They might surprise themselves by discovering talents or aptitudes they never knew they possessed; whether it’s trying to draw a picture, sing a solo, or take a subject they have been scared to attempt.”

Ross said he knew that RHS had a special place within the community.

“I want to embrace the traditions of this school, which is well over 100 years old,” he said, “but I also want to instill some new traditions for our students, and those are leadership and excellence.”