Not only is Mark a TPS Foundation board member, but he is also a proud TPS alumni. He attended Longfellow (K-4 and 7-8), Larchmont (5-6), and graduated from Start High School in 1966.
Mark stayed busy while in high school as he was a delivery boy for a downtown office and had his own lawn care business. His talent of marketing and organizing events started at a young age. As a senior at Start, Mark and some of his friends organized a mass basketball dribble to the big game with Start’s rivals at Bowsher.
“12 or so guys dribbled all the way from a pep rally in the Start gym to Bowsher, then into their gym to shoot a layup. Start crowd went nuts. Got a local radio station to cover it with regular reports from the road.”
After graduation from high school Mark went to the University of Toledo where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in education and then attended Bowling Green State University where he worked on his master’s degree.
Mark credits his vice principal at Start for recommending him to the Honors Program at UT. “It was the best thing that happened to me from a learning standpoint.”
His first job out of college Mark returned to his alma mater, Start, as a teacher. From there he went on to run a successful business for over 30 years, is chair and has chaired three charitable foundations and has served as an elected member of the schoolboard/city council in Sylvania for 20 years.
Mark is married to a Start Class of ’72 graduate and they have two beautiful daughters and three grandchildren. When he is not busy with his grandchildren, Mark enjoys traveling, yoga and writing.
We are so thankful for Marks service on the TPS Foundation board!
“I wanted to give back to a school system that helped make me who I am today. The job of public education is so much more difficult now thank 50 years ago and TPS needs private help like the Foundation to help.”