It’s a Monday morning four weeks before the start of the school year, Mark Lubamersky arrived at San Rafael High at 7am like he has every day throughout the summer for morning weights with the football team. His nights are usually taken up by San Rafael City Planning Commission meetings, or grading papers, as he is a teacher at Terra Linda High. He actively involves himself in every aspect of the community in which he can. His family is rooted in the San Rafael Community, as he hopes it is for generations.

“People have an obligation to give back to a community that has given them so much. San Rafael and Marin have given me so much, my children and wife have as well, I feel that it is only right that I continue to give back to them,” says Mark. He has been a teacher for most of his adult life, he has never been an administrator, nor a counselor. He believes that working directly with students allows him to “Shape students’ minds and actually influence change in their lives.” Mark Lubamersky’s life mission has nothing to do with himself, he wants the children he has had the pleasure of raising to have a happy life, and the San Rafael community to continue to thrive through many generations, and this is what pushes him through the long nights and early mornings that he has.

His involvement in the community comes from his parents, who also wanted to give back to the community that they call home. They too worked for the school and city. Mark’s involvement has followed his three sons Aidan, Liam, and Seamus. From Little League President, to CYO President, to Davidson Middle School Dad’s Club President. He has coached every one of Liam and Aidan’s sports teams, all the way up to varsity football. A coach at heart, Lubamersky works to ensure that not just his sons, but all his athletes are taught life skills through sport. He believes sports are an important vehicle for life lessons that cannot be taught anywhere else. 

All of his athletes have a story of Mark that has influenced their life. Oscar Labovich, a former athlete of Mark’s, who is also a close friend of all three brothers, shares that Lubamersky would often drive up to 10 kids to basketball practice every day, making sure that every kid who was in need of a ride got one. “We would all pile into Mark’s truck and go to practice every week,” Labovich said. “One time he broke up a fight in the middle of practice and then made the two sit next to each other on the car ride home. It saved their friendship.” Lubamersky’s work with students has allowed him to see the big picture in kids’ lives. He does not just see two kids fighting about passing the ball, he sees two boys who will be boys, but he finds a way to guide them on their way to becoming men.

This constant contact with their dad throughout their teenage years, has become a source of conflict between Mark and his sons. Aidan says, “It’s hard to have a frustrating practice, knowing that he’s (Mark) going to be grumpy that night at home. He holds us and the other leaders to a higher standard than everyone else, so it becomes hard to keep up with.” During the last few years of high school, the lines separating coach and player from father and son have been blurred. The brothers often feel as if they are being treated unfairly at practice, while Mark feels as if he is being respected by his sons by means of a dad, not those of a coach.

This does not mean that the brothers take what their dad does for them for granted. “I love my dad,” Aidan says, “he does get on my nerves, but I know what he has done for me will make me smile looking back on my childhood.” A typical night at the Lubamersky home features constant yelling, a lot of food (enough to feed 850 pounds of teenage boy), but the most consistent feature of their home is laughter. The joy that the family shares together is contagious, and they share it with everyone who enters. The moments in which Lubamersky has spent with his wife, Maria, and sons outside of the house. Whether it be for sports or a several week trip to Europe. It has led to a level of comfortability with each other that allows them to express themselves fully, but most importantly it has brought their family closer together than most other typical families. 

Mark has always been a family man, he believes that he needs to be involved in every aspect of the community in order for his family to live the best lives they can. His involvement is tied to his family, but it stretches as far as he can reach, because “my community is my family, San Rafael means so much to me.”