Largo, Florida -- You could say Dr. Robert Eliason is pretty much like any other high school teacher. At Largo High he teaches English 4, Composition I and Greek Mythology.
On the day we visited the school, his students were putting on a lunch time play.
Dr. E, as his students call him , is coaching from back stage. Like any teacher, Dr. E is proud of students hard work.
Once the play is over it is back to the classroom. And this is the part where Dr. E. stops being like any other teacher you've ever met. In his classroom, students don’t sit at desks. Instead they are grouped together at tables.
And he doesn’t use overhead lights. He thinks they are too harsh. Each table has a quirky flea market lamp as its centerpiece.
And sometimes Dr. E teaches class in character. Today he’s wearing a Viking helmet.
- Dr. Robert Eliason, Largo High School
- “I do what I need to do in order to get the job done, and if it's to wear a silly helmet and carry a plastic sword smeared with red paint I will do that when it's time to talk about the Anglo-Saxons. I'll have mock battles in the hallways and I will pound on the wall if we have to. You have got to make it come alive.”
His lessons always seem to offer a little bit more. And just look around his classroom. His décor will never bore. There are deer heads mounted on walls. Spooky candle holders are on bookshelves and twinkling strings of light dangle from the ceiling.
Senior Kyle Darres says he knew right away Dr. E’s class would be memorable.
- Kyle Darres, Senior
- “The first thing I saw was the deer head on the wall and the copper plates and I was like this is going to be a fun year.”
- Dr. Robert Elisason, Largo High School
- “Do you remember what your English classes in high school were like? I had English classes in high school and I hated them. They were so dull. Somebody along the way lost sight of what it was supposed to be. Dog-gonnit, these things are so neat and it doesn't come across that way.”
Student Alissa Jones says Dr. E is perhaps the best teacher she has ever had and doubts there is another like him. After more than three decades in the classroom he has some advice for younger teachers.
- Dr, Robert Elison, Largo High School
- “Don't think outside the box. Instead burn the box and stomp on the ashes. Don't be afraid to paint the wall. You just have to ask for it and if you don't get it, do it anyway.”
Ginger Gadsden, Tampa Bay's 10 News