High school biology teacher Marc Vancuren runs for Oklahoma State House of Representatives.

Today’s political climate is offering many opportunities to educators to serve their communities in venues outside of the classroom. One teacher who hopes to do this is Oklahoma’s Marc Vancuren, a high school biology teacher who is running for a seat in the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

It makes perfect sense that Marc would pursue a career in teaching. His father was a junior high school principal, and his mother was a high school counselor. Marc attended Oklahoma Baptist University, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Education in 1988, and Northeastern State University, where he earned his Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Administration in 2009.

The candidate’s career as an educator spans 30 years. In addition to teaching biology, he has coached golf, track, basketball, and baseball. Marc’s first teaching position was at Norman High School, where he taught and coached from 1999 to 2000. He then became an Assistant Basketball Coach at the University of Texas, where he worked from 2000 to 2004. From 2004 to 2018, Marc taught and coached basketball at  Owasso High School in Owasso, Oklahoma. He resigned from coaching to run his political campaign.

Marc says his bid for political office was the result of a concern and frustration regarding the current state of Oklahoma politics, especially with regards to issues related to education. Marc, who is running as a Republican, won his district’s primary in late June. Because there is no Democratic candidate running against him, this exemplary educator has already been declared the Representative-elect for District 74.