āNoah Jenkins: All right, Mr. Bass, could you just provide the students of Saint Cloud High school generally who you are, an introduction as you are a new district board member?
Robert Bass: Well, thank you. And thank youāyouāre my very first interview. So, I get to practice on you. Well, my name's Robert Bass. I'm born and raised in Saint Cloud, actually born in Saint Cloud Hospital. My father was born here, my grandparentsāso like five generations. The school has always been an important part of my life and I'm looking forward to taking it into the future and working on the momentum this previous board has beenā2020 has not been a good year for all of us, obviously, so it's going to be some challenges, but we're really looking forward to that. I have a daughter who is a senior at Harmony High SchoolāI'm sorry, thatās your rival thereāand a son who is a dean at Narcoossee Middle School, sister-in-law who teaches at Saint Cloud Middle School, and a nephew who teaches at Toho. So, I've got family members all over.
Noah Jenkins: And how important is you being from Saint Cloud, do you think, in your performance of your job? So, do you think you, you being from Saint Cloud makes you doing your job better than someone else that might have immigrated in? Do you think your specific experience being from Saint Cloud is beneficial in your job?
Robert Bass: Well, I think anyone who wants to serve in their hometown has home court advantage because I care greatly about this community, it's where I was born, itās probably where they'll lay me to rest and I want to be successful in our community. And this community has been good to me and I just want to give a little bit of that back to the students.
Noah Jenkins: Do you have any specific ideas that you want to bring to the school board to help Saint Cloud and the entire district?
Robert Bass: You know, when I started this race, it was about a year ago and some of the hot topics were, you know, getting our students who maybe are not necessarily college bound, help them get into the trades because you can be successful not necessarily without a college degree, but then the virus hit and that completely turned everything upside down. And my goals are still the same. I still think we need to address the effects of those students who are going to college, to help them, give them all the tools, but don't turn our backs on those who maybe are not quite ready for college, but they can still go into the workforce and be successful.
Noah Jenkins: And my last question here: You brought up COVID. Of course, thatās the big thing right now. So, is there anything that you specifically want to work on or any specific issues within that that you want to bring to the school board?
Robert Bass: I want some young, bright mind like yours to invent a vaccine to make it all go away. That's what I'm hoping for. Now, I think the district has done a phenomenal job of putting together a digital platform so that everyone isānobody's lagging behind. There's a lot of decisions that come down from the state that we don't have any control over. So, I think we're just gonnaāwe're moving along the best we know how.
Noah Jenkins: Mr. Bass, thank you very much for this opportunity.
Robert Bass: Thank you.
Noah Jenkins: And best of luck.
Robert Bass: All right!
Noah Jenkins: Thank you and you take care!
