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Staff writer

Dean Erickson wanted to be a teacher because he believes nothing makes more of an impact in the world than a good teacher.

Dean Erickson recently joined the Meadow Creek Christian School staff as the assistant superintendent and secondary level principal. He previously was the middle school principal at Minnehaha Academy for 25 years. Photo by Eric Hagen

He eventually chose to follow the path of school administration after 10 years of teaching because he knew that good teachers needed good administrative support.

Erickson joined Meadow Creek Christian School last week as the new assistant superintendent and secondary level principal.

After serving as the middle school principal at Minnehaha Academy for 25 years, Erickson decided that it was time for change and a new challenge. When he became aware of the opening at the Andover private Christian school, he was intrigued.

Erickson has been impressed by Meadow Creek Christian School, which educates future leaders from the time they are in preschool until they graduate and move onto post-secondary educational opportunities.

“This seems like a really positive environment for teachers,” he said.

Erickson is familiar with the north metro area. He grew up in Anoka and was a neighbor of Garrison Keillor. After attending a three-room school house at the Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center border at Highway 252 and 73rd Avenue, he attended Anoka Junior High and then the Minnehaha Academy.

His positive experience is what interested him in a career in education.

“I realized after my educational experience that if you really want to impact life and culture you do it through the kids,” he said.

Erickson graduated from North Park University in Chicago in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He was a junior high and high school social studies teacher and a basketball coach in Roseville Area Schools from 1973 to 1976.

For a couple of years, he taught high school European history and American history and he was the athletic director and boys’ and girls’ basketball coach at a school in the African country of Zambia.

The school schedule was much different in Zambia because there was no extended summer vacation. Instead, the cycle was students went to school for three months and then had one month off, according to Erickson.

After two years in Zambia, Erickson was back in Roseville, but this time as a district-wide community education coordinator. He stayed in this post for two years.

Erickson would once again head overseas to teach for two years, but this time he was in the European country of Sweden. His job was to teach American history to Swedish college students who were preparing to study at North Park University in Chicago.

There were North Park University students studying in Sweden. He instructed them in Russian history and current European politics.

He was also the administrator of the U.S./Swedish exchange program and led students on educational trips throughout Europe, including to the Soviet Union, which was in the middle of the Cold War with America at that time.

Upon coming back to the United States, Erickson had a brief one-year stint as an assistant principal at a high school in Breckinridge, Colo.

From 1984 until 2009, Erickson was the middle school principal at Minnehaha Academy. Like Meadow Creek Christian School, Minnehaha Academy is a private Christian school that educates from the pre-kindergarten to the 12th grade level.

Three years ago, Erickson visited schools in Japan for one month as part of the Japanese Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program, which provides American educators with opportunities to observe the Japanese educational system.

Erickson wanted to become a school administrator to lead a positive educational environment.

“I believe so strongly that good leadership sets the tone in the school,” he said.

What Erickson wants to emphasize with students is the importance of community service and opening their eyes to the world to gain some perspective.

“That’s why I spent a good amount of time in Christian education because as Christians we’re called to serve,” he said. “You can talk about faith, but unless you walk the walk, what difference does it make?”

Erickson has been married to his wife Donna for 36 years. She writes a column regularly for the Pioneer Press. She also has a television series called “Donna’s Day” that airs locally on tptLife’s channel 13 or 17 at 7:30 a.m. on Fridays. The show is syndicated internationally, Erickson said.

Dean and Donna have three grown children.

Bjorn, 30, is a sales person in the technical field. Britt, 28, is in her second year of residency at the University of Alabama and wants to be an ob-gyn doctor. Anders, 25, is a second-year law student at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul.

When he has spare time, Erickson likes to play basketball, golf and travel.

Eric Hagen is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it