Mark was born and raised in Portland, Oregon; where he went to his neighborhood grade and high schools. After graduating he went to Colorado College where he was in the first Freshman class under the newly developed Block Plan. It was a great decision and there he met Jeanie, who became his life-long partner and joined him in the pursuits that came to be a core of their life together. They married in 1978.

At CC Mark studied Religion and Philosophy and had wonderful professors who were inspiring and engaging and who, years later, would set a bar for himself to try to emulate in his desire to inspire and engage his students at CRMS.  

After college Mark and Jeanie worked for the German Outward Bound School in Bavaria. It was in Germany that they learned to kayak and were introduced to ski-mountaineering. Upon their return they worked for the Southwest Outward Bound in southern New Mexico. 

All of the above was “preliminary training” for working at CRMS, which they joined in the Fall of 1979. Being a part of the CRMS community was life changing and he felt the school’s power from his first moments in it.  To be able to team-teach a course like Western Civilization to 10th graders alongside wonderful colleagues was enormously exciting. Then to be able to work with 12th graders teaching both Eastern and Western Philosophy and Religion couldn’t have fit him better. Added to this was Mark & Jeanie’s work with Nordic Skiers and Kayakers in the Active Curricula; two sports they cared deeply about.  

Mark also had a “career” in the administration at CRMS where he was Dean of Students for a number of years and then filled in as Academic Dean and the Director of Active Curricula when colleagues in those positions were on sabbaticals. CRMS was truly his home, a place that nourished him profoundly. He has always felt fortunate to have been at the school and continues to feel this way!

Read more about Mark Clark in the Sopris Sun: https://soprissun.com/2022/02/09/mark-clark-bids-adieu-to-crms/

Read more about Mark’s impact on Colorado Rock and Mountain School: https://www.crms.org/magazine/#crms-magazine-summer-2022/4/