Mark Oatney is one of the many teachers here at Mendocino K-8. He is an art teacher, and he loves teaching kids and seeing them getting excited about art. Some Mark lore is that he used to be a wildlife biologist, and he took his camera with him on long hikes that he did for work, until it became an addiction. 

He showed his work to a few professional photographers, like John Barger, Frans Lanting, and Ansel Adams, along with professors at UCSC, a school that specializes in meteorology, horticulture, and cartooning. Mark showed his work to professors Norman Locks, Ray Colette, and Don Weygant.

After he went pro, he started to branch out into other activities, especially painting, printmaking, and ceramics. Eventually, he had a craving for teaching, and since doing art was lonelier than teaching for him, and he liked photography less the more he thought of it as a career, he found that teaching was perfect for him. He found out that he liked teaching by seeing a fourth grade girl cry with joy because she finally understood math.