It is the big four-oh this year. For 40 years, Marcos de Niza has been a school of quality education. Since the opening of the school in 1971, Marcos has expanded and grown into the school it is today.

Thousands of students have graduated from Marcos, creating new futures for themselves. Of those students, some came back to teach at the school. Even Marcos’ current principal, Frank Mirizio, attended as a student. 

The school opened in 1971 to a total of 700 freshmen and sophomores and 30 faculty and staff. The cafeteria was not yet built, so meals were transported from McClintock High School and students ate lunch in the basement of the gymnasium. This was the class that voted on the school colors and designed our first Padre mascot.

“I remember when I was a student, we had lockers. It is interesting to see how much the school has changed since I was a student there!” said Spanish teacher Dianne Hatfield.  

Unlike many Tempe Union District Schools, the school was named after a meaningful historical figure. Marcos de Niza was a Spanish friar from the 16th century, sent to travel in search of the mythical lost city of gold. During his search, de Niza came upon South Mountain and left his initials on a rock. The school was named in his honor. Although it was recently discovered that de Niza was a fraud, both teachers and students agree that it would be too much work to change the name and mascot of the school.

Marcos is known for more than its unique name, though. It is also known for its outstanding athletics, musical programs, and an extensive list of extracurricular activities. Since the opening of the school, it has maintained the same sports over the years, but Marcos has extended to play home to almost 70 new clubs for students around campus to be apart of.

 “As a past student at Marcos, my favorite memory was the overall high school experience. The clubs, Friday night football games, the bonfire, and all the teachers and students made Marcos an unforgettable experience,” said Marcos principle, Frank Mirizio.

Since the opening of the school, there are still many traditions still in existence. Besides the traditional Friday night football games, hoopcoming and senior ditch day, held at Marcos, there are unique rituals that have become apart of the school, such as freshman orientation, senior barbeque, water sports, a senior slide show, pink out game, “Padre Law” shirts, and Halloween dress up day.          

Athletic director Mike Griffith created the Padre Law shirts three years ago. He said, “I created the saying from quotes that administrators and students would often say. I came up with the idea of the shirt when I was at an Arizona State game and saw students wearing ASU law shirts.”  

For next year, Marcos will be adding a new series of Padre Law shirts. Griffith came up with the laws for the back of the shirts by himself.  Griffith explained that the shirts were made purely for fun. He wanted to see kids wearing the shirts not only around 

Marcos offers a wide range of sports. Over the years, it has been given many awards for its athletic success. The school’s most recent award was for their sportsmanship last year at the state championship. Although the team lost the state game, they were awarded the Matt O. Hanhila Sportsmanship Award to recognize their “Outstanding team which displayed the best sportsmanship” in the 5AII conference. Last November, our football team won the AIA Game of the Year award for their victory over the number one ranked school, Centennial. 

For the actual celebration of the 40th anniversary, the school will be having a special reunion at next years homecoming to honor that past alumni. This year’s yearbook is a special edition in honor of the 40th anniversary.

Over all the years Marcos has been around, the school has grown with talent, diversity and school spirit. As Mirizio would say, “Once a Padre, always a Padre.”