Ken Howell is not only strengthening the St. Mark’s math program as an Algebra II instructor, but he also brings with him loads of knowledge about a sport that has not seen much popularity at 10600 Preston Road.
Not only was Howell a math teacher at his previous school, Jesuit, he was also the school’s bowling coach.
“When the bowling coach at Jesuit left, they were in search of a new coach,” Howell said. “I coached in the past and love coaching, so they asked me to do it and I said sure.”
While a lot of coaches dedicate their lives to a sport, Howell wasn’t bowling very long before he started coaching. Howell’s journey to success began with a friend.
“I didn’t start bowling until about two years before I started coaching. I started doing some league bowling with a friend of mine who was the coach at Jesuit,” Howell said.
Before his pursuit in bowling, Howell actually spent his coaching days in lacrosse. At the time of his appointment to head coach Howell had quit coaching lacrosse and felt the urge to get back into the game.
“I wasn’t coaching anything at the time and felt like I needed to get back into it,” Howell said. Once I started doing it, the joy of coaching came back.”
When Howell and his team began the season, Jesuit had decided to change from a club team to a real varsity sport. The sudden change lost Howell several athletes, but he managed to persevere and lead his team towards success.
“We took a team of 15 to a team of five just because they didn’t want to commit,” Howell said. “That team of five made it to regionals, which was a really big thing,” Howell said.
Even after success at Jesuit, Howell ended up choosing to come to really make an impact on students both young and old.
“I came to St. Mark’s mostly because I’m a teacher first, and the main idea was that I can go to a school where I can influence students longer than the four years,” Howell said.
