Ooltewah High School principal, Mark Bean talks to a student during the lunch break on Thursday, May 3, 2012, at the school in Ooltewah, TN. This is Bean’s third year as principle at Ooltewah High.
ABOUT THE FINALISTName: Mark BeanAge: 54Education: Bachelor of science degree in education from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; master’s of administration and supervision at Trevecca Nazarene University.Years at school: 22, last three as principal; 30 years in educationFamily: Wife Penny; sons Joel and Peter, daughter Jordan.”The best part about my job is being around the students every day, working with them, watching them grow and seeing them become young adults who I know will become successful members of society. If I ever lose the passion, the desire and the drive to help kids, then I’ll retire.” – Principal Mark BeanFUN FACTSHe spent 19 years as an assistant football coach under three different head coaches while a faculty member at Ooltewah and was the Owls’ head baseball coach for 12 years. He guided his baseball teams to more than 175 victories in that time and had more than 20 student-athletes sign college scholarships. One was University of Kentucky signee Rod Bolton, who went on to pitch for the Chicago White Sox.
Ooltewah High School Principal Mark Bean was far from his office the day he came up with his school’s slogan.
“I was bush-hogging on my tractor,” Mr. Bean said. “That’s usually when I get my best ideas, working on my tractor, out there by myself.”
He wanted an expression that was simply the best way to describe the excellence he was striving for when he realized, “That’s it,” he said. “Simply the Best.”
The catch phrase can be seen displayed at the school where Mr. Bean is in his third year as principal. He spent his first 19 years in education as a teacher and coach at Ooltewah. In the late 1990s, then-principal Theresa Harvey approached him about pursuing work in school administration.