MIKE FALKENBERG

STAFF BIOGRAPHY

MIKE FALKENBERG

Teachers

Phone  403 342 6655 ext: 1245
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I have been teaching in Red Deer Public for over thirty two years and I am proud to say that it has not been just a job but a grand adventure. I am very proud to have been part of teams that have helped many young people to become positive forces in the world.  My grand parents and parents were teachers, two of my siblings are teachers, my wife is a teacher and my daughter has also recently started her career as a teacher so I guess teaching is in the blood, a way of life, a life mission!  I continue to be inspired every day by the incredibly hard working, talented, kind and caring staff, students and athletes I work with here at Hunting Hills and in the Red Deer Public School District. 

In the past I have done volunteer and professional work for the Red Cross and Royal Life Saving Society teaching swimming, life saving, life guarding, first aid, and canoeing. I also was also an instructor trainer and examiner for the Red Cross, Royal Life Saving Society, and the National Lifeguard Service. During my work with these organizations I earned The Award of Merritt and The Distinction Award.  In my athletic past I played hockey and competed in track and field, cross-country running and cross-country skiing, competitive swimming and in triathlon. At the age of 17 I became a leader in the Boy Scouts of Canada organization. In 2007 I received a thirty year service award from the Boys Scouts of Canada for over thirty years as a leader of Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Rovers.  Also at the age of 17 I became a certified track and field coach and for over 43 years I have coached either cross-country and/or track and field for almost every one of those years at the club and the school level.  I also have coached competitive swimming.  For Red Deer Public I have taught Social Studies, English, Humanities, Science, Environmental and Outdoor Education, and Physical Education. I was Social Studies Department Head for ten years at Eastview Middle School. Currently I am a proud member of the Hunting Hills teaching team and a member of the Humanities Department.  At Hunting Hills I have coached school reach teams, cross-country and track and field. I also have worked for Alberta Education marking diploma exams in January and June for the last sixteen years. 

I have been happily married to my wife Danece for over 34 years and together we are the proud parents of four children who have gone through the Red Public system.  All four of them had very positive and rewarding experiences in our public schools, with three of them graduating from Hunting Hills and one from LTCHS. Three of our children have now completed post secondary degrees at RDC, U of A and U of L.

When I am not teaching, coaching, supervising, marking, reading, researching, planning and preparing I try to indulge in my passions of self propelled outdoor pursuits like mountaineering, cross-country skiing, canoeing and backpacking. In over forty five years of seeking out high and wild places I have apparently become a "high pointer."  I have successfully reached the highpoints of two continents, nine nation states, thirty eight U.S. states, three Canadian provinces and twenty one national parks so far.  

This year I am teaching Social Studies 9 Advanced, 10-1, 20-1 and 20-2 , 30-1 and  30-2. Current reading and research interests include economic policies in liberal democracies, critical thinking, evidence and reality based decision making, impacts of new technologies on learning and attention, social justice, Cold War history, history and philosophy of the scientific method, the history of exploration and discovery, as well as historical biography and adventure travel. In the last decade I have taken a number of courses from the Foundation for Teaching Economics.  Most recently I took a summer school course on Economics for Leaders - Teaching High School Economics at Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, North Carolina. It was a very valuable learning experience as there were high school teachers and college instructors from all over the United States that contributed to the course.