Mark Kotik Biography
I was born and raised in Fremont, Nebraska in a family of five. Both my older sisters and I graduated from Fremont High. Following my high school graduation in 1992, I attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln where I immediately entered the teachers college. After graduating from the UNL I was a substitute teacher with Lincoln Public Schools and worked full-time with Hy-Vee food stores. A year later I was hired at Palmyra High School to be their computer lab para and assistant wrestling coach. After two years in that capacity, an opening in the Social Studies department opened and I moved into the high school as full-time teacher.
The last nine years I have taught senior government, sophomore world history and freshmen geography. My other duties currently include assistants in varsity wrestling and junior high football and being the head coach for the junior high wrestling team. Having long days bring great rewards.
I have been married my wife, Kristy, since June 2001. We are a family of what I would call…six. Libby, who turns four in April, loves and adores her little sister Maddy, 19 months. Both girls have me completely wrapped around their fingers. The oldest is our cat Jackson, who found me one morning on my way to work. He was crawling out of the ditch near our apartment. The sixth member of our family is a little cat named Dewey. I pulled Dewey from a dumpster on a cold November night. The Cat House shelter did not have room so…being the softy that I am, we took the “kitty” in. My wife continues to be the foundation of my life. Both being teachers (she teachers ninth grade English at North Star in Lincoln) we have a firm understanding of where we want our family to go in life.
As a family, we enjoy traveling, swimming and reading. As much as we love our girls and working with young people, my wife and I relish our quiet times at home together as they are few and far between. Personally, I enjoy watching and playing sports. My first love is baseball, but college football, especially the Cornhuskers, is a close second. During the spring and summer I enjoy riding the Lincoln bike trails just to get away from it all.
I continue to enjoy waking up in the morning to come to work at PHS. The students are excited to learn and grow, the staff is collegial and the administration is supportive. With the continued growth of our community the future is bright for all of us.
