Century activities director Mark Kuisle is stepping down

May 6—ROCHESTER — Longtime Rochester Century Activities Director Mark Kuisle announced to Century staff Monday morning, May 6, that this will be his final year in that capacity at the school.

His final work day is June 30.

Kuisle said he'd been considering retirement for the last two months. As he reflected more deeply on things, he determined this was the right time.

Kuisle noted all of the pressures that come with being an activities director, particularly with parents who can become disgruntled, and how it takes a toll.

He admitted that pleasing everyone is never possible, as has always been the case. But the 58-year-old Stewartville native also points to what he says is an increasingly eroding dynamic between parents and school administrators. It wore on him and certainly sped up his retirement.

"I wanted to keep this to myself until I was sure I wanted to retire," Kuisle said. "It knew it was going to be emotional for me because I work with a lot of people. The exit plan was never going to be perfect. But it has been a great career, filled with so many things that I've loved. I want to celebrate that. But this job is very demanding and very personalized, and every decision you make is personal in the eyes of the recipient.

"In public education, you find many activities directors right now who say that they are not always supported when tough decisions have to be made."

The Rochester Public Schools offered this statement from Superintendent Kent Pekel regarding Kuisle, who has been Century's activities director since the school's opening in 1997:

"Mark Kuisle has decided to retire from Rochester Public Schools on June 30, 2024, after 34 years. Mark has been a paraprofessional, Business Education teacher, and administrator.

Mark's career in Rochester has had many wonderful opportunities. He coached the only two MSHSL individual state champion wrestlers in the history of John Marshall and an All-American wrestler. He chaired the design team for the referendum for Century High School and was an integral part of all the discussions and collaborations for Century's school colors, mascot, logo, crest and school song. Most recently, Mark was the co-chair for the pre-referendum on the three elementary schools (Longfellow, Overland, Harriet Bishop), Dakota Middle School, Century Pool, and boundary changes. During his tenure as the lead for the Activities Department, our district has added two adapted athletic programs, girls hockey, competitive dance, boys and girls lacrosse, boys and girls alpine ski, visual arts, one-act play and the implementation of girls wrestling for Minnesota.

Mark is truly dedicated to the prevention and care of our student-athletes. Our contract with the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine has fostered a strong collaboration with "at our fingertips" world-renowned Sports Medicine Doctors, dedicated athletic trainers, student-athlete-based research projects, nutrition, strength and conditioning, and sports physiologists. This all has served to better the social and emotional well-being of our student-athletes.

A great memory for Mark was on January 22, 2010, approximately two weeks prior to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The Rochester Century boys' hockey team played the women's Olympic Team before a packed house at the Rochester Recreation Center. The women defeated Century 2-1 and went on to a silver medal at the Olympics. The women's team was so appreciative of our accommodations, the Rochester atmosphere, the competition, and our attention to detail. Mark believes our first priority is for the event to be about the student participants, their experience, and the classroom."

Century longtime track-and-field coach Kris Allen said Century staff took his announcement as a complete shock. She noted the Century coaching staff was largely enamored with Kuisle, with his work ethic and care and support of the Century coaching staff being unending.

"This was completely unexpected," Allen said. "I'd say the 30 to 40 people in the room today when he made the announcement had stunned belief. That was the mood in the room. He was supportive of his coaches not just as coaches, but as people. He understood that behind the decision we have to make as coaches, we have people and families that may disagree with us. But Mark unequivocally supported his coaches and made our jobs easier because he was so good at what he does. He was organized, he took care of the facilities and he did so much behind the scenes just to make our jobs easier, so we could concentrate on coaching and not busy work."

Kuisle says he has yet to determine what his next career path will be.

"I don't know what I'll do next," Kuisle said. "I'd been going 110 miles per hour in this job. I just don't know what's next for me."

Kuisle, a graduate of Stewartville High School and later Rochester Community College and Winona State University, began as Rochester John Marshall's athletic coordinator in 1991, spending six years at the school before moving on to Century when it opened in 1997.

Kuisle was the statewide Minnesota Interscholastic Activities Administrators Association Merit Award winner for 2024.