By LINDA CHION KENNEY
It’s official; the largest school in the Hillsborough County public school district has a principal, mascot and branding colors set for its August grand opening.
As the self-proclaimed “proud first principal of Aquilla J. Morgan High School” in Wimauma, Brittney Wilhelm said she was proud to lead the school that is “really going to be a pillar for the community.” Its mascot is the Mustangs; its colors, orange, navy, black and white.
Brittney D. Wilhelm, the newly named principal of Morgan High, in her school district photo for her principalship at Jefferson High
Set to take on her new role and responsibilities this month, Wilhelm leaves behind her job as principal at Thomas Jefferson High School in Tampa, a role Van Ayres, the superintendent of schools, once filled. Wilhelm had been Jefferson’s principal since July 2022.
In addressing Wilhelm’s appointment at the Dec. 3 school board meeting, Ayres said that, like himself, Wilhelm was a product of Hillsborough County public schools. In her first school district job, she was a secretary at Beth Shields Middle School in Ruskin. With a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida, Wilhelm reportedly became a teacher at Shields in 2011, then filled assistant principal roles at Lennard (2016) and Middleton High (2020), before her first principalship at Jefferson (2022).
Artist rendering photos of Morgan High, as presented by school officials in a community flyer
Wilhelm now works in Wimauma, a town rapidly growing and redeveloping, sporting the largest school the district has ever built. The previous record-breaker, Jule F. Sumner High in Balm/Riverview, opened in 2020 as the district’s first new school in 11 years. Nevertheless, the 238,268-square-foot campus was unable to keep pace with the area’s growth as constructed, and to keep students from attending classes in double sessions, a new classroom wing opened at Sumner in January 2023.
As for the Morgan Mustangs, they will roam the $176-million, state-of-the-art, 359,000-square-foot campus, set to open Monday, Aug. 12, with its inaugural staff and students. The district policy is for all new high schools to open for students in grades 9 through 11. Morgan’s 12th grade will be added for the 2026-27 school year. The school is built to accommodate roughly 3,500 students.
Morgan High mascot and school colors, from the Herff Jones branding proposal approved by school board members at their Dec. 17 meeting.
As the school district’s 29th traditional high school, Morgan is one of 18 high schools named for people who have been recognized for outstanding service, including Sumner, for south county settler and cattleman Jule F. Sumner; Lennard in Ruskin, for lifelong Hillsborough educator, Riverview resident and former superintendent Earl J. Lennard; Spoto in Riverview, for educator Richard C. Spoto; and Newsome in Lithia, for former school board member and Plant City pharmacist Joe Newsome.
School board members voted 4-3 at their Sept. 5 meeting to name the Wimauma school posthumously for Morgan, whose family members were in attendance then, and on Dec. 17, for the meeting to confirm school colors and mascot.
According to school officials, Morgan was the first African-American teacher hired at Wimauma Elementary School after the landmark Civil Rights Act passed in 1964, which made employment discrimination illegal. A lifelong educator, Morgan taught Head Start, kindergarten, second grade and fifth grade, and died Sept. 21, 2022, at age 80.
Built at 5709 Hickman St. in 1926 to house students in grades 1 through 12, the Wimauma School became an elementary school in 1939 and today teaches children in pre-kindergarten through grade 5. Wimauma Elementary stands less than two miles from Morgan High at 1712 West Lake Drive.
In the running were five Morgan mascot options, put to a community vote, with a Dec. 2 deadline. The choices were Moccasins, Marauders, Mariners, Mustangs and Grizzlies. According to school officials, the 20-day voting period drew 201 responses. Community meetings were held as well in advance of the school’s opening.
“We really wanted a mascot that would resonate deeply with our students, our family and our community members,” Wilhelm said. “The results are overwhelmingly in favor of the Mustangs. The Mustangs represent strength, unity and determination, qualities that we [trust will] reflect the spirit that we want to instill in our students and our school.”
East of Sun City Center and south of Balm, Morgan High is built on an 87-acre tract that will include also an elementary school and middle school.
The chosen Mustang logo, submitted in a branding design concept by Herff Jones, “will set us apart from all the other high schools and ensure a clean and professional look that can be used across a variety of platforms, uniforms, banners and any school spirit gear,” Wilhelm said, in asking for the board’s mascot approval. “I’m incredibly excited about the momentum for this project and the pride that it’s going to bring for the Wimauma community.”
Morgan High photos
Morgan High mascot flags, from Herff Jones, were in the company’s branding proposal submitted with the school board’s Dec. 17 meeting packet.
Thanks to the school board’s unanimous endorsement, the Mustangs in south Hillsborough County join the Riverview High Sharks, Spoto High Spartans, Sumner High Stingrays and Lennard High Longhorns. Also, at East Bay High in Gibsonton, the Indians, and at the South County Career Acceleration Academy in Ruskin, the Bobcats. Further to the east, there are the Newsome Wolves, Bloomingdale Bulls, Brandon Eagles, Durant Cougars, Plant City Raiders and Strawberry Crest Chargers.
“I’m excited about [Morgan’s] mascot,” said school board member Patti Rendon. “I love the fact that the colors are totally unique to the area and that nobody on the east side [of the county] has anything like this, so it’s super cool.”
Collectively, the colors of traditional, district high schools in southeast Hillsborough County include, for Riverview (black, royal blue and silver), Spoto (purple, grey and black), Lennard (desert orange, black, charcoal and white), Sumner (green, blue and silver), Newsome (Carolina blue, navy and white) and Bloomingdale (black, red and white), Brandon (black, maroon and white). In the Plant City area, the colors for Durant are dark blue, gold and white; for Plant City, teal and orange; and for Strawberry Crest, red, black and silver.