Mark Wiest(’94): New Activities Director at Mandan High School
Wiest, a Wishek native who has spent most of his adult life in Jamestown, is the new activities director at Mandan High School.
“I definitely wanted to get into this role as athletic director. That was a focus and goal of mine,” said Wiest, who is in his sixth year as principal at St. John’s Academy in Jamestown. “… I didn’t want to go to a super-large school district. Mandan or Jamestown is the right size. You can develop relationships and get to know a lot of people in the community. … People are going to have to pull together and work together, and Mandan has a history of doing that.”
Wiest was a multi-sport athlete at Wishek who was involved in music and many other school and church activities. He attended the University of Jamestown on a basketball scholarship, but his college athletic career ended with a broken wrist early in his sophomore year. He was graduated in 1994. In 2003 he earned a master’s degree in education from St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn. In 2011 he earned master of education specialist credentials at North Dakota State University.
In 2004, Wiest joined the University of Jamestown staff as an instructor and head women’s basketball coach. He remained there until 2010.
After six years at University of Jamestown, Wiest was named principal of St. John’s Academy, a Catholic elementary school with an enrollment of about 250 students.
“We were very happy in Jamestown … and I really loved what I’ve been doing. I’ve been very lucky to work the places I have,” he said. “… The interest of moving into an athletic director’s role began to intensify. … It was really starting to pull on me more.”
Wiest is being immediately incorporated into the process as Mandan fills openings in its coaching staff.
The Wiests have three children — Trey, who is finishing the ninth grade; Jaxton, who is finishing the eighth grade and their daughter, Jayden, who is currently in the fourth grade.
