Mark Mash named finalist for Teacher of the Year Award

Mark Mash (back row, second from right) among the 26 semifinalists

Dr. Mark Mash (MA ’00, PhD ’10) made it to the final round of the selection process for the Wake County Public School System’s 2016-2017 Teacher of the Year award. Mark was first named Leesville Road High School’s Teacher of the Year on November 2, 2015. In an article in The Mycenaean (the school’s newspaper), Mark outlined his teaching philosophy: “My goal is to help each student master the material, and, as students advance, my role increasingly becomes that of a facilitator. I want students to think critically, to be curious, to ask questions, and to become comfortable problem-solving. These practiced skills become helpful habits in students’ lives now and in the future.” Mark was one of 13 finalists selected from more than 10,000 teachers in Wake County.

He has been teaching Latin at Leesville Road High School in Raleigh for 14 years and currently teaches Latin II, Latin IV and AP Latin. Mark founded the Leesville Road High chapter of the National Latin Honor Society in 2011. In addition to his teaching duties, he is the school webmaster and serves as the School Improvement Team Chair. Mark’s wife Carrie is also a graduate from UNC with an MA in Classics and currently teaches Latin I and Latin III at Leesville Road High School.

Mark and Carrie — Mark with his wife Carrie

Wake county is the largest school district in North Carolina with over 10,000 teachers and more than 157,000 students. For more information about the award selection process, see the WCPSS website and the write-up in the News & Observer.