Mark Heels earned his BS in industrial arts education in 1988 from the University of Southern Maine (USM), graduating cum laude. Mark is a military veteran, having served in the U.S. Army, where he was an engineer officer and attained the rank of First Lieutenant. Mark considers himself an industrial artisan, having worked in various disciplines, including, but not limited to, education, environmental engineering, (computer-aided design) CAD, construction, sales, information technology, and automotive restoration.
He recently completed the Praxis exam for teacher certification (30 years post-graduation) and attained a perfect score in his subject area. This achievement reflects Mark’s core values of practicing his specialty area, love of learning, and curiosity about the industrial-technological world. Mark credits his success, in part, to mentors like Goodwin Hannaford, his high school industrial arts and automotive teacher who was influential in Mark’s decision to pursue industrial arts education. Goodwin was both a teacher and a mentor, instilling the values of personal integrity, curiosity, frugality, and a strong work ethic in his students.
Mark has enjoyed a lifelong passion for playing music, having played bass guitar in a number of bands. He also enjoys keeping freshwater aquariums which provide habitat for discus, angelfish, and others. Mark resides on Chebeague Island, Maine (just off the coast of Portland), with his partner, Julie Doughty. There, he works on projects of various kinds in his free time, especially motorcycle restoration and repair.