By Sara Ballenger

Keith Moody, the new assistant principal at Mountain View High School, brings with him not only 15 years of experience working in education, but the mystique of wearing a coveted Super Bowl ring.

Moody, who played in the National Football League for five years with the Buffalo Bills and one year with the 1980 Super Bowl winning Oakland Raiders, sees his time as a professional football player as his catalyst into education.

“I was very fortunate to play some professional football,” Moody said. “It teaches you a lot about life. The greatest benefit for me was that it paid for my college education at Syracuse University. It gave me a great basis to go into education.”

Moody said being on a professional football team taught him how to deal with setbacks and failures, which helped him hone his problem-solving skills.

“There are a lot of leadership skills and resiliency in athletics, in particular in football,” Moody said. “Whenever you play a game, there is a form of dramatic testing going on. The following week you are tested again, so you can’t dwell on errors. You have to work with others and find solutions. The same transfers over in education. Even as an education administrator you have setbacks.”

After his professional football career, Moody spent time working as an administrator and counselor in the Fresno Unified and Clovis Unified school districts. He worked with both Los Altos High School Principal George Perez and Los Altos High School Vice Principal Ralph Cave while in the Central Valley.

When the assistant principalship opened up at Mountain View High, Perez and Cave encouraged Moody to apply, Moody said.

Mountain View High School Principal Pat Hyland is glad to have him on board.

“Keith is a great find,” Hyland said. “He’s fun to work with and has his focus on things that will help us meet the needs of all our students. I think he’s enjoying himself in the district - despite a horrible commute from Tracy.”

Since officially beginning his post July 1, Moody has been surviving the commute and has found the high parent involvement and the support of the school from the district office, parents and community a refreshing change.

“In Mountain View and this area, there are very high expectations, with high performing kids and schools,” Moody said.

“There is more of a demand here, more than in other places, but the amount of support here is tremendous.”

During his time at Mountain View High, Moody hopes to help maintain the high level of performance and student achievement he sees in the district, he said.