Mesa Public Schools provides quality educational choices for students from pre-K through high school. With a long tradition of excellence in academics, athletics, service and the arts, Mesa’s schools are the heart of the community.
When families and communities donate their time and resources, it makes students' educational experiences richer and schools stronger. Motivated by a desire to make a difference in our schools, meet two exceptional dads who are making a difference one substitute assignment at a time.
Modeling a new level of partnership with schools
Oscar White is a former Marine, father of a Mesa Public Schools alumni, and member of Mayor Giles Human Relations Advisory Board. He volunteers with veterans organizations and has a successful management career at Amazon. With a full schedule, one would wonder why he also devotes his time to being a substitute teacher at Mesa Public Schools.
White shares that our children are the future of our community, and it’s too important not to get involved. Schools need the community to engage with them.
“Yes, my schedule is busy, but I believe that it’s imperative to make the commitment to give back to our youth,” White says. “I remember all of the special angels in my educational career that helped me along my way and as a positive male role model, I want to pay it forward.”
MPS attracts and employs good people with big hearts
Mark Pond retired from the aerospace industry, and in his family's best interest, became a stay-at-home dad. Pond celebrates eight years of substitute teaching and shares that his daughter's counselor at Mesa Academy for Advanced Studies originally talked him into it. He completed his paperwork on a Wednesday and the next day was subbing for the Mandarin Chinese teacher. Pond shares that he enjoys being a substitute teacher because it's fun, and the students keep him young at heart.
“When my daughter was a fourth grader, she figured out dad early on in life,” Pond says. “She knew that if she asked me to join the PTO, I would probably do what most dads do and say I don’t have the time, but instead she joined the robotics team and asked me to build a table for her team.”
Pond built the table, became a robotics team coach, mentored other coaches and for the past three years has worked just about every day as a substitute.
For more information regarding volunteer and community partnership opportunities or careers at Mesa Public Schools, please visit mpsaz.org/volunteer or mpsaz.org/careers.