Dr. Mike Dunn is a trailblazing educator who instills passion for wonder and curiosity in the classroom through his work in Colorado.
If you look at Dr. Mike Dunn’s resume, you’ll almost immediately guess he loves adventure and the outdoors. But to meet him is to meet someone deeply passionate about education and ensure all students and their community’s complex needs are met.
I first met Mike ten-plus years ago- he started writing for The Educator’s Room back when education was coming off the Race to the Top Initiative, and we desperately needed a fearless writer and an advocate for children- Mike is both. Our relationship evolved, and from meeting his beautiful dog, Kelly, to seeing him at his former school for students with learning differences, Mike is the type of person you want on your staff.
Mike has a calm demeanor, and with that calmness comes an educator who’s highly sought after, which is apparent just by looking at his resume. This sense of adventure has helped shape his approach to education, guided by wonder, curiosity, and confidence during his 17+ years in education. This early inspiration has evolved into a mission that guides Dunn’s work in helping students and educators gain confidence, unearthing joy, and engaging in active decision-making, making him a natural fit for the first Trailblazing Educators for The Educator’s Room cohort.
“The team was particularly passionate about choosing educators with varying degrees of experience in education, and Mike Dunn did that,” said Franchesca Warren, Founder of The Educator’s Room. “He’s been everything from a History teacher, Guidance Counselor to everything in between. We’re happy to have his expertise on this list so the world can see his brilliance.”
Mike Dunn started his career in Detroit, Michigan, working with students to expand their career options after graduation. His love for students and the outdoors took him to the Northeast, where he opened AIM Academy in PA to work with students with language-based learning differences. He has also served in various leadership roles focused on helping historically underrepresented groups of students access postsecondary learning opportunities.
This sense of adventure and purpose is what brought him to Estes Park, Colorado, which is a picturesque mountain town and gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, offering stunning alpine scenery, abundant wildlife, and year-round outdoor activities like hiking, skiing, and fishing.
As the current college and career counselor at the Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center in Colorado, Dunn has had plenty of experience enriching students’ lives.
“Centering students was a huge learning for me as a young teacher. Realizing the power that young people have was revolutionary to me, and then taking this power seriously was the next step on this journey. Lately, I’ve been grappling with how to center the well-being of both students and adults,” Dunn says. “I believe this means humanizing everyone in education in deeply empathetic ways. This means building relationships, removing the veil of school, and connecting with communities.”
For Dunn, education is more than knowledge transfer; it’s about human connection and well-being. “Realizing the power that young people have was revolutionary to me,” he shares. His innovative strategies center on humanizing education by building empathetic relationships and connecting schools to the wider community.
Even with Dunn being recognized in the first cohort of Trailblazing Educators by The Educator’s Room- a feat only available to a small percentage of educators, Dunn is reflective of how difficult it is to be an educator post-COVID, especially when trying to foster an environment where both students and educators thrive. One of his realizations focuses on the need for time to be an effective teacher, specifically teacher planning time.
Dr. Dunn agrees.
“One of the most significant challenges I’ve faced is time. The amount of communication that I’m being asked to engage in on a regular basis is really overwhelming. This can be with students, parents, community members, school leaders, and others,” Dunn reasons. “We live in a world where communication and the flow of information is constant, so the expectation of that happening from the classroom is strong. I’ve set up some effective (and not-so-effective) systems (e.g., weekly phone calls, weekly emails, a newsletter), but it requires so much time that it’s difficult to support my own well-being.”
Despite challenges, when reflecting on systemic change, Dr. Dunn emphasizes the importance of solution-based solutions to transforming education, such as school funding and equitable pay for teachers across the county to meet the unique needs of communities.
“Funding formulas must be flexible,” he insists, advocating for solutions that address disparities across the country. Equally important, he believes, is the need to rebuild trust among students, teachers, parents, and administrators—a foundation for sustainable, impactful education.
With many educators searching for affordable housing, many school districts are looking for solutions to help increase teacher pay to make homeownership a reality. Dunn believes we need an equitable solution that isn’t just about soundbites but sensible solutions.
“…Instead of saying all teacher pay is a minimum of $60K (a common argument by education transformation proponents right now), we need to talk about minimum pay as a function of cost of living. $60K in Mississippi is much different than $60K in Brooklyn, “Dunn offers as a solution. “Both areas need teachers, but the nuance requires attention as much as the broad solution. This level of nuance has to be part of our conversation about funding across the country.”
Beyond the classroom, Dr. Dunn has leveraged his platform to inspire broad change, questioning traditional definitions of success and creating spaces where students and teachers feel a sense of belonging. His advice to educators feeling stuck is practical and heartfelt: seek new opportunities, cultivate community outside of work, and focus on solutions rather than problems.
Looking ahead, Dr. Dunn envisions a legacy of optimism and collaboration. “We can do this together if we actually come together,” he says, reflecting on a career dedicated to fostering unity and possibility in education. Dr. Dunn exemplifies the essence of a trailblazing educator with his love for learning, nature, and human connection.
To learn more about Dr. Dunn and his work click here.