Evan Rodriguez

12/3/23
Enterprise Story

PHOENIX—The history and Mountain Pointe High School. How it was then and where it is
now. Day in the life of principal Tomika Banks.
Mountain Pointe High School, located in Phoenix, Arizona, and is apart of the Tempe Union
High School District, is renowned for its commitment to academic excellence and a vibrant,
inclusive community.
Established in 1991, the school offers a very diverse range of educational programs and
extracurricular activities.
With a focus on fostering well-rounded individuals, Mountain Pointe emphasizes both academic
achievement and character development.
Known for its curriculum, advanced placement courses, and successful athletic programs,
Mountain Pointe High School has become a cornerstone of educational achievement in the
Phoenix area.
The school's dedicated faculty and staff provide a supportive environment for students to thrive.
Talking a little bit more about their athletics, Mountain Pointe has been great at athletics since
the very beginning.
“Enjoyed great success in the sport of football initially with the legend Karl Kieffer building the
foundation,” Kevin McCabe said. “Harold Slemmer was the first principal who hired Kieffer.
Slemmer went on to become the AIA Executive Director during the great technology growth of
computers and cell phones.” After that, The school went onto hire another legendary Coach from
Georgia named Norris Vaughn, who came out to Arizona to retire.”
Vaugn coached first at Wickenburg and built the Wranglers into a powerhouse, according to
McCabe.
Vaughn went on to do the same thing at Mountain Pointe and make them a powerhouse, making
them the sixth ranked high school team in the country and state champions in 2013, according to
McCabe.
“Mountain Pointe also produced arguably the greatest women athlete in Arizona history, Nicole
Powell,” McCabe said.
Powell was a basketball star. She is seventh in all-time scoring and number one in rebounding.
Powell went to play college at Stanford then to the next level in the WNBA. Also won state
championships in badminton, tennis and track, and would later go on to coach women’s hoops at
GCU, according to McCabe.
“Mountain Pointe also has produced a lot of Major League Baseball players,” McCabe said.
“Some notable ones are Scott Kingery, CJ and Kevin Cron, Joey Curletta and Cole Tucker.”
Fast Forward to 2023, Mountain Pointe is still doing great academically and in athletics.
None of this is possible without the help of current school principal Tomika Banks.
Banks is a veteran at Tempe Union High School District and brings a wealth of knowledge and
experience to Mountain Pointe High School.
Tomika enthusiastically leads each day to best serve each and every one of the teachers, students,
parents, and surrounding Pride community.
“She is a great leader,” Adm Assistant Principal Jessica Portillo said.” “She is always considerate
of students feelings and staff members feelings and she absolutely loves being here which makes
all of the other staff members love being here.
“Yeah, Banks has been an amazing principal for Mountain Pointe,” Athletic Director Aaron
Frana said. “She has a great sense of leadership and is definitely a role model for all these
kiddos. She wants the best our of her students and she expresses that every day. She shows this
leadership by fostering a positive school culture, promoting open communication, supporting
teachers, and prioritizing student success. Couldn’t have asked for a better principal than Tomika
Banks.”
Banks always wanted to be a school principal since the beginning, according to Banks.
“I think in the long run, the answer would be yes,” Banks said. “I’ve always been in touch with
my leadership side and I knew I wanted to lead in a school setting.”
The capacity for Banks to start and try to figure that out was to start as an assistant principal in
the year of 2009 and then work her way up from there, according to Banks.
“Eventually, I would be able to work my way up and be promoted as a principal in 2018,” Banks
said. “So, nine years working as an assistant principal gave me the opportunity to make that leap
to the final goal. I loved it ever since, it’s a great job.”
While working as the principal of Mountain Pointe High School, Banks expresses that she gets a
lot of joy out of it, especially when the kids come back after a couple years of being out of high
school, according to Banks.
“You know, teaching and education is one of those career paths that you get to reap some of the
small benefits, but the ultimate benefit is when kids come back down the road,” Banks said. “But
it takes them a while to do that and come back and give them your story and tell you thank you.
So, the joy of my job is everyday I get to come to work and work with this dynamic group of
kids. Even the ones that are the biggest pains. At the end of the day when they all walk across the
stage that is one of the biggest rewards for me and this staff. Whatever they do after high school
when they come back it feels really good.”
This is Banks 23rd year in education and in the Phoenix area.
 She worked at another campus down the street from Mountain Pointe (does not speak of the
name at Mountain Pointe).
Banks claims that that school gave her some of her greatest success stories and was very
fortunate enough to work there, according to Banks.
Banks weekly routine during a normal school day starts at 7:30 a.m. every school day, according
to Banks.
“Most days, I try to keep my schedule to about 5:00 p.m.,” Banks said. “However, if I’m on duty
in the evenings at events, I can be here as late as 10:00 at night.”
Banks try to make it to every single sport event at least once.
She also tries to make it to every fine arts performance that is going on at that event.
Whether it’s a drama piece or a jazz band performance, she tries to make it to everyone,
according to Banks.
Banks just celebrated her 45th birthday not too long ago.
At this moment in her life, she does not know what her end goal is, according to Banks.
“You know, I just celebrated my 45th birthday not too long ago,” Banks said. “I got a lot of life to
live still. I don’t know what I want to do. I don’t know if I want to go to the district office and do
some work there with adults. That would be kind of fulfilling. But right now, what brings me
ultimate joy is being on a high school campus and just staying in the know. I never want to be
one of those old people asking all the old questions. So, I try and stay up with the know and
correlate what’s going on. It works most of the time.”
Sometimes, It can be hard to run and school and make it enjoyable, but Tomika Banks is doing a
great job at Mountain Pointe.
She is very considerate to all of her staff members and students.
Everybody that I had the chance to talk to said nothing but positive things about Banks.