About Chris

Bio

My name is Chris Wakefield and I teach 9th Grade Physics at High Tech High Mesa.  The 2024-2025 school year will be my 24th year in education.   I have an amazing family: Jenny, Evan, and Baby Brooklyn.  Being a parent has been my favorite time of my life.  My free time consists of going to the beach with my family, coaching Evan's soccer team, changing diapers, watching the Padres, taking the kiddos to different playgrounds, playing pickleball, and connecting with friends and family.  Life is beautiful.  

I believe that all students can grow and learn if they connect with the teacher and the content.  That is why I do my best to connect with every student and to develop rich projects that will challenge and support all students.  The transition from middle school to high school can be tough.  If we work together, we can get through the tough times to build a strong community and to do some truly amazing work!  

My backstory

Growing up, I loved playing soccer and basketball, and just being a kid. I was always good at math and science, so in college I decided to study Mechanical Engineering at The University of Virginia. The first several years of college were a rude awakening for me. I never developed the necessary study skills in high school to succeed in college. To me, high school was filled with days where I would do 1st period's HW in homeroom, then do the HW for 2nd period during 1st period, and so on. Luckily for my students I try to ensure that they develop better study skills than what I had.

During college, I met some of my best friends and took the hardest classes UVA had to offer. During 2 of my summers I worked as an Engineering Intern. One summer I worked as a Design Engineering Intern for The Architect of the Capitol in Washington DC. Another summer I worked as a Design Engineering Intern for Merck Pharmaceuticals. Through these jobs I developed my CAD skills, and got tons of valuable real world experience. I worked on projects ranging from designing HVAC systems in the House of Representatives and the Capitol building, to designing part of an assembly line for an anti-AIDS cocktail (Crixivan), to redrawing duct work on a 65 million dollar air reclamation project.

After college I worked as a Golf Course Engineer for the Irrigation Division of The G.L. Cornell Company in Gaithersburg, MD. As a Golf Course Engineer, I was responsible for over 550 golf courses in Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC, Northern Virginia, and the eastern tip of West Virginia. Working with G.L. Cornell I did the following: Used spreadsheets to prepare quotes for customers, used multimeters to check current and voltage for satellite irrigation controllers on golf courses, checked for radio signals for irrigation control from the central computer, programmed databases at the central computer, used PowerPoint to make multimillion dollar sales presentations. My engineering experience helps me bring a "real world" feel to problems and projects. It also helps when students ask "why do we have to learn this?"

After 3+ years of Engineering (and watching the movie Office Space a few too many times), I decided to switch to my dream career, teaching.  Over the past 23 years, I have taught AP, IB, A Level, GCSE, and honors level Physics in addition to teaching integrated Math/Physics at HTHMA.  I spent one school year working with the Innovation Unit to bring Project Based Learning to schools all over England.  I was the founding Director of a Project Based Learning and Design Thinking high school as well.  I value teaching at schools that care for the entire student, not just their test scores.  If you have a positive attitude and try your best, there is nothing you can not achieve!

Please feel free to contact me at cwakefield@hightechhigh.org.