Mark McDonald:
CLASS OF 1972
Paramount High SchoolClass of 1972
Paramount, CA
California State University Class of 1978
Long beach, CA
Mark's Story
Currently teaching science at Ector Junior High School in Odessa, TX (of "Friday Night Lights" and "Heroes" fame, although neither one portrays the city accurately), I was a band/choir director for a dozen years in California and overseas before moving to Midland. Then I spent some five years writing about the oil industry and another five years or so doing tech support. But I kept getting laid off from the tech jobs so I went back into the classroom. Next career move is into administration.
I am currently working on a doctorate in educational leadership through U of Texas San Antonio. I'm getting close to the point where I am "ABD" (All but dissertation) but am also working on that as well. I am a member of Mensa as well, so if you knew me as a know-it-all type, now that's official. But the one thing I know for certain is that I don'
t know everything, so I try to keep a humble perspective.
I have been married 30 years now to the former Mary Lou Brice of Santa Monica. She's my best friend. You'd be surprised by how young she looks, even though she is older than I am. We have four boys ranging from 29 down to 20 and an 18 year old girl who just graduated with honors and is headed off to WTAMU in the fall. Mary Lou is an excellent singer and our daughter at least has inherited that talent. The boys can sing as well, but after all, they are boys. Mary Lou also has gone back to school and has obtained her Chef certification, an AS in Culinary Arts, a BA in Humanities, and is starting graduate work in English.
I find I am more and more like my former teachers, especially Mrs. Thompson, who taught Chemistry, Physics and Geometry at PHS while I was there.
For relaxation we both sing in the local symphony chorale and...Expand for more
act on stage when time permits. Summers I get out the ol' trombone and play in the pit band for the world-famous Summer Mummers. OK it's a repetitive show but it's all the popcorn you can eat. Too we recently started up a community band and I play in that. Really my favorite thing to do is to stay up late and sleep in in the morning, something that as a teacher I seldom get to do. If the TV is on, I usually tune in to Turner Classic Movies. Beethoven is Da Man, and Wagner rocks. You can keep the stuff on the radio, because musically it hasn't evolved since our generation did it first.
After leaving PHS I took my time going to college, first at UCLA then at CSULB. I became a Latter-Day Saint in 1977 and subsequently served as a missionary to Madrid, Spain. Coupled with the eight years I spent with the Dept. of Defense Schools, by the time I was 40 I had spent 1/4 of my life in Europe. I'd go back in a heartbeat. We had one kid born each location: California, Portugal, Greece, Germany, Texas. Yes, Texas is indeed a separate place. Don't ever try to tell the folks here otherwise. Midland is a great place to live and raise kids, but boring to visit. Before here we'd never been more than 3 years in an area. We have been here 20 now and will need to stick around until we both graduate--again. After that...look for us on Planet Earth: Scotland or New Zealand, or who knows, maybe even California.
If I knew then what I know now, I would have done more. I would have gone out for football not just band, gotten into some clubs, served on student council, and I would have gone to ALL the dances. What a shy fool I was. I would have also talked to the girls, especially the One I had a crush on, instead of worshiping her from afar.
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Register for Free to view all events!
Photos