Merced Union High School District

Kyle Mesa is enjoying his summer, working on home projects, but is finding it tough to stay away from Buhach Colony High School. Mesa, 41, was appointed the new Buhach Colony principal in February, and begins his new role this school year. In the meantime, he constantly finds excuses to stop by the school. He was walking through the construction of the new on-campus football stadium this week, where he could see the home and visiting bleachers, press box, concession stand and ticket booth are all near completion with the stadium scheduled to be finished this winter. “I think the football field is going to be a game-changer,” Mesa said. “We’ve never really had a true home game. I think it's going to create a lot more excitement around the school.” Mesa has been in contact with school staff this summer to explore ways to kick off the school year right and create excitement for the Thunder athletic programs. “I’m trying to take a summer, I’m trying to stay away, but it’s just my personality,” Mesa said. “I’m going in there pretty much every other day, checking on something. I'm just getting excited about everything, so the start of the year can't come soon enough for me.”

Mesa joins the Buhach Colony staff and an enrollment of 1,704 students after spending last year as an associate principal at Awater High, four years as an associate principal at Livingston High and two years as an assistant principal at Delhi High and Delhi Middle School. After substitute teaching, Mesa began his first full-time teaching position at Sequoia High School in Merced as a special education teacher. Mesa also has a coaching background as an assistant basketball coach at Atwater High and UC Merced.After working with Mesa for the past couple years, Livingston High principal Charles Jolly feels Mesa is ready to succeed at Buhach Colony. “I think he's going to do an excellent job,” said Jolly. “I think BC is in great hands with him. He's a leader, he cares about kids, he cares about staff and the community too. He's a hard worker, he's dedicated and also a great teammate.”

Mesa is a home-grown product, graduating from Atwater High in 2001. He played football and basketball in high school and later played basketball at Modesto Junior College and Stanislaus State. His passion for education came from watching his mom work as a sixth-grade teacher in Livingston. He remembers helping her set up her classroom every summer and always being around her school. His love for sports came from watching his dad, who owned a trophy shop in Atwater, interact with coaches all the time. “I knew I always wanted to work with kids,” Mesa said. “I just didn’t know in what capacity. Having the athletic background helped me, kind of steer toward coaching, at first and then once I got a taste of that, I saw it translating into the classroom and really enjoying what I do.” One of Mesa’s big goals as principal is to give students an opportunity to get the full high-school experience. He wants to see kids get involved, whether it’s with clubs or athletics. “I want (students) to be able to call their school home,” Mesa said. “I want them to be excited to come to school each day. Involvement could be many things. It could be clubs, it could be activities, it could be athletics, the whole-rounded experience. I met a lot of great people, whether it was through classrooms or sports that helped set me up for success in life.” “One of my goals is to improve our level of involvement,” Mesa added. “I think it’s going to pay off big time as it relates to staff feeling supported, kids that are involved and it helps the climate and culture at school.” 

Mesa says parents can expect their kids to be safe at school. They can also expect their child to be respected and cared for by adults on campus. He says communication with parents is important to him. “I don't want anyone to ever tell me I didn't know this was happening or I wasn't sure about that,” Mesa said. “They can expect to receive many ‘Parent Square’ messages. They will get a lot of information on social media as to what's happening on campus and in the community, and they can expect to be welcomed anytime they come to campus.” Mesa hopes to implement the community and family like atmosphere he experienced during his stops at Livingston and Atwater and create similar experiences at Buhach Colony. “It’'s all in the spirit of what's best for the kids,” Mesa said. “No matter what we do, what decision we make, or changes we make, our goal is to make the best place we can for students.”

Shawn Jansen is the Program Manager Digital Media for the Merced Union High School District. He can be reached at sjansen@muhsd.org.