Dean Smekens has been a Music Educator in the Fort Wayne area since 1992. He started his Career at Lakeside Middle School , teaching Band and Orchestra. During his tenure in the FWCS school system, He taught at 11 different schools, including Elementary, Middle and High Schools. His longest assignments were at Snider High School, as the Assistant Band Director to Mr. Kevin Klee (13 years), and as the Band and Orchestra Director at Jefferson Middle School (7 Years).

Mr. Smekens has been in the SACS School System since 2012, teaching Orchestra at both Summit and Woodside Middle Schools. He does not have a Favorite middle School here in SACS: he actually likes both schools equally! Mr. Smekens likes the variety his job offers in SACS, as well as the different Teaching Staff at both Buildings, and, of course, the Students!

Mr. Smekens attended the IPFW Music department for his Bachelors’ Degree in Music Education, and the VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, IL for his Masters Degree in Music Education with a String teaching emphasis.

In his spare time. Mr. Smekens plays Jazz as a member of the New Millennium Jazz Orchestra and has been a member since the groups'  inception in 1999. Mr. Smekens enjoys Superhero and Science Fiction Movies, Reading, Bicycling, and Playing the Saxophone as a means of Therapy and Fun! He is the Proud Father of two Children: Stephanie Chambers, 34, an Educator living in Denver, CO, and logan Smekens, 27, an aspiring Apprentice Plumber in Fort Wayne, IN.  He is the Son of Janalee Yoquelet, 83, his feisty Mother, who always keep him on his toes.