Mike Bakker has officially been named the Activities Director at Ankeny High School.
Bakker, who previously served as the Activities Director at Southview Middle School, has been filling the role on an interim basis since last month, when Adam McDonnell left for a new position in Cedar Rapids.
“I’m really excited about maybe providing some stability to the position to support our kids, our programs and our coaches,” said Bakker. “I feel really good about the place we’re in right now with our head coaches. I think their results in about every sport speaks for itself, and it’s just really a fun time to be at Ankeny High School and to be able to support the kids, the coaches and the programs.”
Bakker becomes the fourth Activities Director at Ankeny since the split into two high schools in 2013. He follows in the footsteps of Brent Buttjer, Andy Umthun and McDonnell.
Bakker has worked in the Ankeny district for 24 years. He taught for 15 years at the high school before moving into the administration at Southview.
Bakker was a longtime assistant volleyball coach for the Hawkettes. He also coached track, wrestling and girls’ golf.
“I’m going to tell you that about 15 years ago this (position) was not on my radar,” Bakker said. “When I moved into the 8/9 job, it still wasn’t on the radar. Fortunately, I have a family who I think we all kind of agreed that this wasn’t really a job as much as it’s a way of life. So my wife and kids have bought into it, and we’ve just been able to live it as a family and with their support it made a lot of sense to take the next step and be at the high school.”