JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville City Council will introduce two resolutions during Tuesday’s meeting to honor and congratulate Raines High School’s principal and football team for an outstanding performance.
“Oh, man, it means everything. That’s my school, that’s my heart. I mean, it’s always been a foundation here in the neighborhood, great school to go to, great people came out of that school. Like I said, neighborhood school, that’s the school I love. Raines,” said Hazaniel Robertson.
We caught up with Hazaniel Robertson. He grew up on Avenue B and still lives in the neighborhood nearby.
He is a certified Viking.
“Grew up right here in the neighborhood,” he said.
He was happy to see the success of the team in 2024 and the continued academic success in the classroom. Hearing that his Alma Mater is being recognized gives him great joy.
“The staff at Raines, the principal, awesome job. The band director, awesome job. I mean, you just got a lot of dedicated teachers,” Robertson said.
One resolution honors the Raines Vikings High School football team for an outstanding season and for participating in the Class 3A State Championship Game. The second resolution honors Raines High School principal Vincent Hall, who was named Duval County Public Schools 2025 Principal of the Year.
In the resolution to honor the Vikings, council members applaud the team’s outstanding season which brought “tremendous excitement and pride to the city.”
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“Head Coach and alumnus Donovan Masline and his coaching staff, school principal and alumnus Vincent Hall and his staff, the players, cheerleaders, band, student body, booster club, and community supporters should all take tremendous pride in this outstanding achievement and look forward with great anticipation to another season of success in 2025,” the resolution states.
In the resolution for Principal Hall, council members note that he has been a “transformative and inspirational leader in the Jacksonville community” and mention his outstanding work as a principal.
Hall led the school, which had received a grade of “D” or worse for six of the seven years before his arrival, to its current “B” grade, which is the first in the school’s history, according to the resolution.
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News4JAX was there when Hall was surprised by his students, staff and faculty with the news that he had been named DCPS 2025 Principal of the Year.
“Never in 1 million years did I think I would come back and be principal here.” he said “But to be given this honor, it’s just magnificent and then for my school to also earn a ‘B’ last year when at one time it was on the state closures list. We’re just excited about all of this all the work we’re doing.”
Principal Hall has been at the helm of Raines since 2013 and has spent nearly 30 years with the district.
“Number one. Number one. Ichiban. No, no other school can say that,” said Robertson.