Mr. Bakken has been involved in theater since middle school, when he participated in the musical at the request of his parents, who incentivized him with a dog (he absolutely adores dogs)! He then continued with theater throughout high school, despite having played basketball his whole life up until that point. He’s like a real life Troy Bolton! After high school and college, Mr. Bakken went on to teach at Hill Murray, but felt that it was too restrictive as a Catholic school. As his career progressed, he directed at Artistry Theater and Visual Arts in Bloomington, but he found himself wanting something more from his career. And now, he has made his way to Breck!
One thing that led Mr. Bakken back to teaching theater to high schoolers is his passion to see growth in students. He loves to help students improve and transform their skills from year to year. He also enjoys encouraging students to work hard for an amazing result. Mr. Bakken hopes to transform Breck Theater into an appreciated Breck extracurricular. While he would love for more students to participate in theater as actors or tech crew, he also wants to help Breck students cultivate an appreciation for the theater. Mr. Bakken recognizes the stigmas around the theater community, and specifically being a theater kid in high school. However, he aspires to prove those stigmas wrong and show the Breck community how impressive and exciting high school theater can be, especially the amazing productions. With Mr. Bakken at the helm of the ship, the Breck Theater Program faces exciting new waters!