Mark began as a facilitator with WISDOM in 1998. He has journeyed with so many beautiful families in the years since. He and his wife, Lorena, have four children. They now live on an acreage north of Edmonton and have recently become empty-nesters.
Born and raised in the mining city of Sudbury, Ontario, Mark was in the shadow of the newspaper business, the Sudbury Star, where his dad, the production manager, and his two brothers, general manager and editorial cartoonist, were the engines of the operation. Needless to say, Mark was a paperboy and in high school he worked as a proofreader at the paper. Playing tennis was Mark's love and during the summers he virtually camped out at the courts. Mark also spent a lot of time pouring over his dad's multitude of photo albums and collection of war-time events he accumulated while serving as a reconnaissance photographer in WW2 from 1939-1945.
Mark's parents, though not overly well-off, were determined all their 6 children would be university graduates. With that in mind, after graduating Grade 13 from St. Charles College, Mark proceeded to pursue his degree, receiving an Honours Degree in Economics. That summer, after touring the American West Coast with a friend he graduated with, Mark landed a job with the City of Sudbury as the resident economist for a department called Solar Action. That was 1979, when even then they were focusing on a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. That gig ended in the fall, and after a few more attempts of finding his place in the working world, Mark headed out West at the behest of his two brothers who were already there and landed a job in the oil industry with Gulf Canada Resources (so much for Solar Action). Mark was stationed at Gulf's field office in Stettler, where providence would have it that he met a Saskatchewan girl, soon to become his future wife, who was the Director of Medical Records at the Stettler Hospital.
Fast forward to 1993, where Mark changed gears and decided to go into teaching, after being encouraged to do so by two of his siblings who just so happened to be teachers. As a result of being selected to the After Degree program at the University of Saskatchewan (yes, his family had moved to Saskatoon during those forgotten years), Mark graduated with a BEd in 1994. After a few itinerant teaching years in Saskatoon, Mark's family moved to Marwayne, Alberta, where they first began homeschooling their children. Within a year, Mark began as a Facilitator with WISDOM Home Schooling.
Now here he is, 26 years later. It has been a tremendous blessing to work with this organization, both in relation to his colleagues and families he has worked with.
Mark considers it an incredible privilege to be a part of this journey with WISDOM and the families he facilitates.
Mark and Lorena Meakes
780-231-6594
mark@wisdomhomeschooling.com
mark.meakes@gilbertineinstitute.com