Duane Piper
Vice Principal
Hi everyone! My name is Duane, and I have the tremendous fortune to be one of the Vice Principals at the best school around! If you’d like to get a hold of me, email is best, duane.piper@lethsd.ab.ca. If you’d like to come in and chat, my door is always open, and the tea is always on. Or if you'd prefer coffee, I can always steal some from Brady Hway's office... If you're here for the sole purpose of getting to know more about me, well then read on!
I spent 12 (glorious) years teaching high school Drama. I always thought that teaching Drama at Chinook was my dream job. I realized though, that it was more that Chinook was my dream school, it really is a special place. For me then, being the administrator at my dream school was the opportunity I was really looking for. It means I get to meet and work with so many more people!
I am originally from the Peace Region waaaaay up in northern Alberta, and I moved down to the sunny south in 2001. The University of Lethbridge was a wonderful place for me to study and earn a few degrees. In fact, I can't seem to stop, as I now have three degrees from there. As I explained to my kids when I finished my Master’s, I have now finished grade 20!
Family is the most important part of my life, I've got a wonderful wife and three awesome kids. As a family, our interests vary from music to rock climbing. On weekends and over the summers we can be found wandering through the mountains or paddling down rivers. In between adventures, we might just spend some time on the couch watching junk TV too, because not everything in life has to be Instagram worthy.
As a practicing theatre artist, I’ve been lucky enough to spend the last 20 years acting and directing. Some of my all time favourite shows that I’ve worked on include; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Six Minutes and Thirty Seconds, You Can’t Take It with You, Iisohksiik: Moving Forward, Crazytown, Munsch at Play, The Rez Sisters, Goodnight Desdemona/Good Morning Juliet, LA Joy, Wash, Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf and many more.
*** Special Bonus Round ***
The following is a list of jobs I have had in the past, all but one are absolutely true. See if you can spot the lie, then the next time you see me, make your guess!
· VHS rental clerk
· Summer camp leader
· Class 1 truck driver
· Support worker for people with special needs
· Youth addictions counselor for AHS
· Grade 3 teacher