If you see a tall, white-haired man sporting a Hawaiian T-shirt walking down the halls, chances are it’s Mark Brazo.

His classroom is hard to miss, too. Brazo decorates his door with stickers from places he’s visited. He’s at 21 right now, and they range from a Nassau, Bahamas logo to a “Wicked good Maine lobstah” sticker.

If the stickers and his signature Hawaiian shirts aren’t testament enough to his laid-back nature, his students can certainly attest to it.

“It’s a really chill and low-key environment, but people are still paying attention,” says freshman Madeline Gochee in Brazo’s Fundamentals of Physics and Chemistry class. “There’s just not this constant pressure or fear of him.”

That’s no mistake, but a byproduct of Brazo’s teaching philosophy.

“I try to make the classroom fun,” he says. “If you’re not enjoying the class, you’re probably not going to learn as much or want to be there.”

Most students would probably appreciate Brazo’s approach. Too bad this is his last year at Lincoln. After a 24 year-journey at Lincoln, Brazo has decided to retire. And a journey it has been.

Brazo started as athletic director in 1991 until he resigned eight years later to leave more time for his three children. Since then, he’s taught science and math. His favorite class to teach was geometry.

“It is the first true class in teaching logic and how to logically think about things.”
Before coming to Lincoln, Brazo taught at Kellogg Middle School and  in Aloha and Vancouver. That makes this his 38th year teaching.

He’s also an adjunct instructor at George Fox University, alongside his wife, chair of the Graduate School of Education. He teaches math for a degree-completion program, which he plans to continue into retirement.

In many ways, this makes sense. Brazo first realized his desire to teach when he was a college student.

“I would sit in university classes and think about how I would present the material differently so people could understand it,” he says.Brazos resigned Dec. 1, the same day, coincidentally, as his fellow science teacher Stephen Runion.

After the school year ends, he’s off to Europe for a three-week trip with his wife.  

“It’s time to do something else. New adventures.”

That’s not to say that Brazo doesn’t appreciate his time at Lincoln, though. “I enjoyed it very much from the moment I got here,” he says. “The people I work with, the students, the community.” He most appreciates the “admiration and respect” he finds between staff.

Brazo says he will miss his daily interactions with his students most. Ironically, that’s also what he’s most looking forward to leaving behind. Certainly his students aren’t looking forward to it, though.

“His energy will be gone. His commitment to making sure students understand the topic at hand and his entire attitude,” says freshman Catelyn Aldersea.

When she and Gochee think about their year with Brazo, they first recall the Christmas lights he kept up until March. Then, they bond over his “terrible” jokes.

Among the most memorable are his “Clinique” and “Maybelline” make-up tests.

But, they say, “there are a lot to choose from.”