By Michael Gresham
The Texas Catholic

WAXAHACHIE — When students at St. Joseph Catholic School returned to the classroom this fall, they saw a new face in the principal’s office.

Mark Osborn steps into the principal’s role while last year’s interim administrator, Trinidad Saucedo, has been named the school’s first president as St. Joseph switches to a president-principal model. As the school’s new principal, Osborn said he is excited about the strong connection between the Waxahachie parish and school communities.

“One of the reasons I got into education was that I wanted to provide holistic opportunities for students, teaching them life lessons and helping them grow emotionally, intellectually, and physically,” Osborn said. “Being able to add that spiritual element is also super important. I am excited to let students know how God has played a significant part in my life and how He can play a significant role in theirs as well.”

Osborn’s route to the principal’s office in Waxahachie boasts a bit of an international flair. His last post was serving as principal of Colegio Americano de Torreón, an international middle and high school in Mexico. He also has served as educator and administrator at two different international schools in Colombia as well as similar schools in Brazil and Monterrey, Mexico.

“I loved the combination of living and working in another culture while also really helping prepare students who come from those different cultural backgrounds succeed,” Osborn said, explaining that at the schools he taught students would receive both a U.S. degree as well as one from their native country. “It was really about helping students open up their minds to the possibilities of going outside their country and experiencing the world.”

Osborn said he also enjoyed and grew from the experience.

“I learned as much from them as they learned from me,” he said. “I learned about their cultures. I experienced their cultures. But I was also able to share my culture with them.”

His career as an educator in international schools also led him on a journey to discover the Catholic faith and, eventually, led him to Waxahachie. Osborn was raised Presbyterian and has a brother who was once a pastor of a non-denominational church.

“So, I’ve always been involved in the church, but it wasn’t until I started attending Mass with my wife, and she started teaching me about Catholicism, that I began considering converting to the faith,” said Osborn, who met and married his wife, Esperanza, a native of Monterrey, while he was working in Mexico.

When the couple decided to move from Mexico, Osborn told his wife she could choose anywhere in the world to live. She chose Texas, wanting to move closer to her sister who lives in Balch Springs. For Osborn, the choice proved to be providence, giving him an opportunity to combine his faith and work lives by working at a Catholic school.

“I just felt this strong calling and this strong desire to be able to serve God through my work,” Osborn explained, adding that it was important to his wife that the couple find a parish where she could be highly involved. “We have that here with St. Joseph. She has the opportunity to serve God here in the ways that she feels called to do.”

A native of Seattle, Washington, Osborn served in the U.S. Army after graduating high school. After working briefly in the information technology field, he returned to school and earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Wash., and a master’s degree in elementary education from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Ala.

Saucedo said she believes Osborn’s past experiences pair well with her own background to create a solid administrative team.

“Mark and I really complement each other with his work experience and military background and me coming from 42 years working for the Army & Air Force Exchange Service,” Saucedo said. “There is that structured sense that we follow to make sure that the details are in place. There is a nice check and balance between us.”

While he may have taken a circuitous route to north Texas, Osborn said he is grateful it is where the journey ended.

“With the connection of faith between the parish and school,” he said, “this community just really resonates for us. We’re happy to be here.”

Editor’s note: Find more stories about new administrators and coverage celebrating Catholic schools in the Diocese of Dallas in our Aug. 23 print edition.