After 11 years of working for CCSD as a middle school science teacher, assistant principal Cameron Roehm has joined the administration after the departure of previous assistant principal Arlene Andrade.

“Well I loved it, my first day here,” Roehm said. “We have outstanding programs here. From Nursing to Web Design, any administrator would love to be able to work with those students and teachers. It’s awesome seeing the students growth as individuals.”

Roehm first worked as a Life and Physical Science teacher at Cram Middle School and then Tarkanian Middle School. Most recently, he worked at Centennial High School, as an assistant principal. Now at SWCTA, Roehm is noticing some of the unique qualities of a CTA.

“That’s one of the good things about Southwest,” Roehm said. “Having smaller class sizes gives teachers more opportunity to build relationships, which means teachers could help them more. Teachers at bigger high schools don’t have that precious time to spend with small groups or individuals.”

Principal Donna Levy chose him out of seven applicants.

“He was the best candidate,” Levy said. “You can’t teach that demeanor and presence that he had. He had all the right answers to the questions, and so far, he’s been very energetic and displayed a strong knowledge of the job. I think he’s an amazing guy and that’s why I hired him.”

One driving force behind his decision was the proximity to his home.

“Now I’m driving 10 minutes instead of 32 minutes like I did at Centennial,” Roehm said. “It’s nice getting home earlier and I like being closer to my family.”

His duties include overseeing facilities, and discipline, and supervising the math and science departments.

“We want to challenge the students,” Roehm said. “We’re going to be doing cross-curricular assessments here and there. There’s a lot of reading in math and science, and those skills can help students grow.”

Roehm also plans to improve issues regarding lunch. The transition from three lunches to two has posed seating and space problems.

“We are working on an outdoor extension for the cafeteria,” Roehm said. “We’d have a larger covered area with tables outside. This would hopefully move some students from the cafeteria to outside.” 

One of Roehm’s previous science students at Tarkanian, Alexander Gittinger, expressed his admiration for the former teacher.

“When I first saw him I didn’t know whether he was the type to follow all the rules strictly or make the class fun and engaging,” Gittinger said. “He ended up being the second one. He built upon my impression of science, and we did fun experiments like a marble rollercoaster. He’s brilliant and I’m sure he’ll do a good job here.”

Even as an administrator, Roehm still remembers graduating from the University of Texas and the start of his education career.

“Graduation is one of the greatest experiences a student can ever have,” Roehm said. “Just that feeling. I still remember my graduation day, and I want to get all the seniors to graduate. I’ll be here to help them enter society and be successful.”