Imagine how great it would be to be someone who knew what they wanted to do with their life from a young age.

Principal Mark Meyer came to De Soto High School aware of the strong academic reputation that the school holds and is already impressed with the character that the school has shown since his arrival.

Meyer wanted the students to know how much of a joy it is for him to come to work every day.

“I really can’t see myself doing anything different,” Meyer said.

From the start he knew he really liked school, therefore he chose it as a career choice in tribute to the strong teachers that he had when he was younger.

“First and foremost, I loved school when I was a kid. School was a good place, a safe place,” Meyer said. “I really valued my education.”

Meyer does not just spend all of his time at school though. His favorite thing to do in his free time is be with his family.

“That’s my priority,” Meyer said, “but when I can, I love to play golf.”

In September 2010, Meyer lost his 7-and-a-half-year-old son, Kade Meyer, in a tragic accident outside of his school.

In celebration of the 7-and-a-half-years that they had with Kade, the family and some sponsors host an annual run at Celebration Park in Gardner called the Kade Meyer Celebration Run on Sept. 22.

Meyer said that the weekend of the run is over all a positive weekend for the family and everyone who participates. They spend the entire weekend hosting both the run and a golf tournament in celebration of Kade, rather than spending the time mourning him.

The event includes a one-mile kids Fun-Run, a 5k and a 10k for the older, more serious participants.

The money collected at the celebration run is donated to a scholarship fund for the class of 2021, the year that Kade would have graduated.

As another way for the family to spend some time together, Meyer and his family like to spend their vacations traveling.

Over the summer he made his first trip out of the country with his wife to Mexico. Having traveled a bit, Meyer knows that there are even a few places that he would like to go back to, including Washington D.C. and Disney World.

“I’m also a bit of a big kid,” Meyer said, referring to his past three or four trips to Disney World. “I enjoy doing things like that. One of these days I’d like to travel to Europe. That’s one of my big goals in life.”

Meyer also enjoys watching movies like Topgun, Star Wars, Saving Private Ryan and Good Will Hunting. He says that even his basement has movie posters included as decoration.

“I like comedies, I like action shows. I love a good story.” Meyer said. “When you walk out of the theater feeling good and happy.”

Many students at DHS feel very lucky to welcome Mr. Meryer as its new principal. It’s not often that a school is lucky enough to welcome someone who is completely fit for the type of leadership that the population asks for but also someone who is purely happy to be here.