Scott Helton was a school principal at heart.
At Addison Trail High School, he was the kind of principal you'd see at sporting events or theater productions. To promote a school performance of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," he was willing to dress up as an Oompa Loompa.
Helton remained a larger-than-life figure in the school community when he moved out of the principal's office and took the helm of DuPage High School District 88.
"When I went to high school, I couldn't tell you the name of my principal," school board President Donna Craft Cain said. "But I think those kids did, and even when he became superintendent, he was still in the schools as much as he could be."