PACIFIC PUBLISHING COMPANY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Athletic Director, Wraps Up Career at Snohomish High School
SNOHOMISH - Snohomish High School Athletic Director Mark Perry is retiring after spending 40 years shaping the lives of students and athletes. With a tenure that included stints coaching the varsity football and wrestling teams, Perry will finish his career at the end of the school year.
"I'll miss being with the players and students. I'll miss the camaraderie with the students," Perry said adding it's time to retire and he is looking forward to spending time with his four grandchildren as well as hunting and fishing.
Originally from Sandpoint, Idaho, he came to the Snohomish School District in 1983 after graduating from Eastern Washington University. "I always knew I wanted to be a math teacher and coach."
In 1985, he changed schools to Snohomish High where he taught math and was an assistant coach for the football and wrestling teams. By the mid-‘90s, he was the head coach for both teams.
"I thought he was going to be around forever," said Francisco Lopez, who is an assistant football coach for the Panthers. He met Perry in 1998 when Lopez took a job as a paraeducator and volunteered coaching kickers on the football team. "He's such a gentleman. We became friends right away."
Perry took over from longtime football coach Dick Armstrong. During his tenure as head coach, Snohomish advanced to the state semifinals in 1998 and won league championships in 1996, 2001 and 2002. In wrestling, Perry's teams won five Wesco league championships, four regional championships, four regional runners-up and had five top 10 finishes.
Perry has won numerous coach of the year awards and, in 2016, he was inducted into the Washington State Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. In 2022, he was honored as Wesco and District 1 Athletic Director of the Year.
Lopez said Perry let him work with the kids and he was always fair.
Job Titles:
- Snohomish High School Principal
Snohomish High School Principal Nate DuChesne met Perry in 1983 when he was a sophomore at Snohomish and a quarterback on the football team.