Mesa High School (Mesa, Arizona)
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Mesa High School is a public
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
in
Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the most populous city in the East Valley (Phoenix metropolitan area), East Valley section of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is bordered by ...
, United States. Mesa High School currently accommodates grades 9–12 as part of
Mesa Public Schools Mesa Public Schools (incorporated as Mesa Unified School District #4) is the largest public school district in the state of Arizona. Its approximately 64,000 students enjoy opportunities such as Montessori, International Baccalaureate, dual-langua ...
. Mesa High School is the oldest high school in Mesa, Arizona, and is home of the Jackrabbits. Mesa High has more than 3,200 students and boasts award-winning athletics, music, theatre programs and more.


History

In early 1898, citizens in the Mesa area petitioned for and voted to establish a high school district. Its first classes began in September 1899 on the second floor of the red brick north elementary school, later rebuilt and known as Irving School. On December 26, 1907, the high school district in Mesa was reorganized into the Mesa Union High School District. The Town Council had leased all of Block 20 to the
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...
for 99 years to use as an experimental farm. This was the land bounded by Center St and MacDonald, Second and Third Avenues. It didn't take long to discover that the block was not large enough. On January 4, 1908, they sold it to the school district for $75. Construction began immediately on the building known as "Old Main". The class of 1909 graduated from that original twelve room building. The school had a main floor auditorium with a swimming pool in the basement. The auditorium was used for assemblies, with folding chairs for the early comers and standing room only for the rest. Ten years later, eight more rooms were added plus a small auditorium-gymnasium. During basketball games, spectators sat in the balcony (above the freshman section) or on the stage because the gym was not wide enough for sideline bleachers. In September 1932, a football player, named Zedo Ishikawa, was accidentally killed with a shotgun blast to the chest while attempting to break up a fight between two dogs. As he neared death he said, "Tell Coach Coutchie and the boys to carry on." As time went on, students began repeating the theme "Carry On" to one another. Eventually, it became the school's official motto. In 1936, the
WPA WPA may refer to: Computing *Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard *Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing * Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada * Windows Performance An ...
and PWA provided funds for new construction, and the New Building was constructed west of the Main Building with an arcade in between. The land for this was purchased from Harvey Bush, for $4,000. A new gymnasium building, which included an agriculture shop and auto shop, was also built south of the Main Building — the new site for school dances and basketball games. In 1967, Mesa won their homecoming football game against rival Westwood High. Then, on Sunday night, October 1, 1967, a disastrous fire started in the science lab, completely destroying the sixty-year-old "Old Main." Classes continued to graduate from the old campus until 1972 when the new Mesa High was built, at a different location (farther east and south). The original Mesa High campus, minus the destroyed Old Main, would be reused in the 1970s as Mesa Central High School, which became the district's vocational school in the 1980s and closed in 1991. In summer 2015, an aquatic center was added to the campus; it was run by the City of Mesa. In 2016, the boys basketball team won state championship for Division 1, ending their 12-year championship drought.


Academics

In the 1983–84 school year, it was honored as a
Blue Ribbon school The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...
. AIMS test scores for MHS were below the state average in reading, math, and writing for 2002 through 2004, but they improved to substantially above average for 2005.


Athletics

The school won the 5A state championships in 2004 for boys basketball, and three straight 5A-I titles in wrestling from 2006 to 2008.
Anthony Robles Anthony Robles (born July 15, 1988) is an American wrestler who won the 2010–11 NCAA individual wrestling championship in the 125-pound weight class despite being born with only one leg. He is the author of the book ''Unstoppable: From Underdog ...
, who was born without a right leg, won individual state championships in 2005 and 2006. He later went on to win the 2006 Senior Nationals' and wrestled at
Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
on a full scholarship. Robles finished fourth at the 2009 NCAA Division I Championships at 125 pounds, seventh at the 2010 tournament, and was national champion in 2011. Home to the Ordaz brothers; Mayk (160) and John Ordaz (130). The only two-time state champion siblings that both recorded undefeated seasons; twice in their high school career, (2009–2012), on the top ten wrestler list from Arizona. *The
Arizona Interscholastic Association The Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) is one of two regulatory bodies for high school athletics and activities in the state of Arizona. It comprises all of the state's public district high schools (except Ajo High School, Beaver Dam High S ...
recognized these sports and the regular season games thereof as official during these years but did not conduct playoffs to determine AIA state champions for them until 1959 for football and 1983 for soccer. In such times, the press declared state champions (and state runners-up), similar to how the Associated Press independently crowns national champions for some sports at the college level.


Demographics

During the 2020–2021 school year, the demographic break of the 3,460 students enrolled was: * Male - 51.5% * Female - 48.5% * American Indian/Alaska Native - 2.1% * Asian - 0.8% * Black - 4.1% * Hispanic - 67.2% * Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander - 0.6% * White - 23.9% * Multiracial - 1.3%


Feeder schools

Junior high schools that feed into Mesa High School (and the elementary schools that feed into the junior high schools): Kino Junior High School: * Thomas Edison Elementary School * Dwight D. Eisenhower Center for Innovation * Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School * John Kerr Elementary School * Lehi Elementary School * Abraham Lincoln Elementary School * James Lowell Elementary School Charles D. Poston Junior High School: * Marjorie Entz Elementary School * Eugene Field Elementary * Nathan Hale Elementary School * Michael Hughes Elementary * Highland Arts Elementary School * Henry Longfellow Elementary School Harvey L. Taylor Junior High School * Washington Irving Elementary School * Veora Johnson Elementary School * Helen Keller Elementary School * Ann Morrow LIndbergh Elementary School * James Madison Elementary School * William S. Porter Elementary School * Charles I. Robson Elementary School * Marilyn Wilson Elementary School


Notable alumni

*
Jeremy Accardo Jeremiah Lee Accardo (born December 8, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, and Oakl ...
– MLB Baltimore Orioles * Wayne BrownMayor of Mesa from 1996 to 2000 *
Jahii Carson Jahii Carson (born August 31, 1993) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Limburg United of the BNXT League. He played college basketball for Arizona State University where he was co-Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball F ...
– professional basketball player * Jim Carter – NCAA golf champion and PGA Tour *
Lee Cummard Lee Cummard (born March 31, 1985) is a former American college basketball player and current BYU basketball assistant coach. Lee Cummard was a standout guard at Brigham Young University from 2005 to 2009, appearing in all 131 games BYU played dur ...
– NBA D-League Utah Flash *
Kyler Fackrell Kyler Bruce Fackrell (born November 25, 1991) is an American football outside linebacker who is a free agent. He played high school football at Mesa High School in Mesa, Arizona before attending Utah State and playing for their football team on ...
– NFL Green Bay Packers * Aaron Fuller - NCAA Iowa/USC & professional basketball * Jeff Groscost – Arizona House Speaker *
Mickey Hatcher Michael Vaughn Hatcher (born March 15, 1955) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder, third baseman and first baseman from through , most notably as a member of the Los ...
MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player, 2-time World Series champion *
Robert Holcombe Robert Wayne Holcombe (born December 11, 1975) is an American former professional football player who was a fullback for the St. Louis Rams and Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). College Holcombe played running back at Il ...
– NFL St. Louis Rams, Super Bowl champion *
Don Janicki Don Janicki (born April 23, 1960) is an American long-distance runner. As a student at Mesa High School (Mesa, Arizona) in 1978, Janicki set the state high school record for the mile with a time of 4:09.95. The record would remain 35 years until ...
— Marathon runner *
Keelan Johnson Keelan Johnson (born September 26, 1989) is a former Canadian football cornerback. He played college football at Arizona State University. He signed with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He has also played for the Philade ...
- NCAA football ASU & NFL Philadelphia Eagles * Mirriam Johnson AKA Jessi Colter – recording artist * Jack Lind – MLB Milwaukee Brewers * Andy Livingston – NFL Pro Bowl selection * Warren Livingston – NFL Dallas Cowboys *
Deuce Lutui Taitusi "Deuce" Lutui (born May 4, 1983) is a Tongan-born former American football player who was a guard (American football), guard in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for the University of Southe ...
– NCAA football champion, NFL Arizona Cardinals *
Mike MacDougal Robert Meiklejohn MacDougal (born March 5, 1977) is a former relief pitcher in professional baseball. He is a switch hitter and throws right-handed. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, Washing ...
– MLB All-Star * Orlando McKay – NFL wide receiver *
Phil Ortega Filomeno Coronado Ortega (born October 7, 1939) is a retired American professional baseball pitcher who appeared in 204 games in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Senators and California Angels over all or parts of ten ...
– MLB Washington Senators *
Rudy Owens Rudy C. Owens (born December 18, 1987) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. In 2014, he played for the Houston Astros in Major League Baseball (MLB). Career Owens attended Mesa High School in Mesa, Arizona, where he played for ...
- MLB Houston Astros *
Anthony Robles Anthony Robles (born July 15, 1988) is an American wrestler who won the 2010–11 NCAA individual wrestling championship in the 125-pound weight class despite being born with only one leg. He is the author of the book ''Unstoppable: From Underdog ...
– NCAA wrestling champion, ESPY winner *
Matt Salmon Matthew James Salmon (born January 21, 1958) is an American politician who served as a U.S. representative from Arizona from 1995 to 2001 and again from 2013 until 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he retired from office after representin ...
– US Congressman *
Vai Sikahema Vai Sikahema (born 29 August 1962) is a former professional football player and broadcaster, who has served as a general authority seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since April 2021. Of Tongan descent, he ...
– NCAA football champion, 2-time NFL Pro Bowler * Delbert Stapley – LDS Apostle * Wilford "Whizzer" White – ASU football legend,
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
player *
Patsy Willard Mary Patricia ("Patsy") Willard (born May 18, 1941) is a former American diver. She competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where she won a bronze medal in the 3 meter springboard event. At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, she finished ...
– US Olympic diving bronze medalist *
Yuridia Yuridia Francisca Gaxiola Flores, commonly known as Yuridia, (born October 4, 1986) is a Mexican singer. She came in second place in the fourth season of the reality show ''La Academia'', which launched her career. In 2005, Yuridia released her d ...
– diamond-certified recording artist


References


External links


Mesa High School Home of the Jackrabbits
– Official Mesa High School Website
GreatSchools.net Mesa High School School Overview
– School Evaluation & Statistics
Mesa Football
– Official Football Site
Mesa Basketball
– Official Boys Basketball Site {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1899 High schools in Mesa, Arizona Public high schools in Arizona 1899 establishments in Arizona Territory