Zach Ward
SNOHOMISH — After spending more than 20 years teaching and coaching at Stanwood High School, Zach Ward will be leading the sports programs at Snohomish High.
Ward was named Athletic Director and will begin July 1. He takes over for Mark Perry, the longtime athletic director who retired at the end of the school year.
“I want to continue a lot of the things he put in place,” Ward said. He added he’s big on developing total athletes and he wants to teach them how to be leaders in the community and in school.
Snohomish High School Principal Nate DuChesne said there was a deep pool of candidates for the position. Ward rose to the top due to his background in coaching and his student-centered approach.
“He really understands how athletes contribute to a positive school culture,” DuChesne said. “He has a ‘big picture’ approach.”
Ward is wrapping up his first year as Dean of Students at Stanwood. He started his education career at Stanwood in 2000 where he was a teacher and coached boys basketball for 21 years. Fourteen of those years were as head coach. During his tenure as basketball coach, the Spartans earned seven league titles and eight state tournament appearances, Ward said.
DuChesne was the head basketball coach at Stanwood when Ward was hired to coach the boys freshman basketball team.
In addition, Ward coached girls golf and the track team.
Even though Ward doesn’t start his position until July 1, he is busy introducing himself to the community. He met Snohomish School Board members during their June 14 meeting. Prior to the school board meeting, Ward said he met with Perry for about three hours and met with Snohomish’s coaches.
DuChesne added that Ward will be a mentor to younger coaches.
McCulloch gets directorship
The Snohomish School District’s new Executive Director of Special Services, Wendy McCulloch, was also introduced to the school board June 14. She spent the past year as the director of secondary special education. Prior to that she was a secondary principal at a middle school in Bend, Oregon.
Mark Perry story:
Mark Perry, school athletic director, wraps up career at Snohomish High School
SNOHOMISH — Mark Perry led teams to championships and mentored thousands of players and fellow coaches, and is capping off a long career at Snohomish High as its athletic director. What's next for him? Plenty.
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