Mark L. Trafton

Instructor in Modern Languages
Appointed
1987
Mark Trafton

From my students, my players and my advisees, I continue to learn so much more than I teach, and that makes coming to work every day and starting every new school year an exciting prospect.

Education

M.A. California State University - Sacramento

B.A. University System of New Hampshire

Biography

Born and raised in Madbury, New Hampshire, Mr. Trafton is one of a few faculty members originally from this area. He grew up on his parents' farm loving sports and all things electrical and mechanical. Thanks to books and other materials that his father brought back after a work trip to Spain with the U.S. Navy, he discovered the Spanish language. A year in Valencia in the late 1970s confirmed his passion. After college, he had the opportunity to teach Spanish at the University of New Hampshire. He later came to Exeter, moved on to the Pomfret School in Connecticut for three years, and then returned to Exeter for good in 1987.

Mr. Trafton teaches all levels of Spanish and has coached the JV baseball team forever. He has been the director of the Academy’s Spanish term-abroad program when it was in Mexico and Spain, and now in Ecuador. He is an activist and adviser to various student organizations that are committed to environmental sustainability and social justice.

He and his wife, Cheryl Rotondo, who is a lab manager with the Science Department, have raised three children on campus, though they are now grown and on their own. Mr. Trafton enjoys growing vegetables and has helped organize the Exeter employees’ community garden; he also enjoys small carpentry projects and mechanical repairs on boats, cars, and other things that break down. A lifelong lover of baseball, he officiates for several leagues in the Seacoast region.