École Salish Secondary teacher receives UBC Alumni Educator of the Year Award

École Salish Secondary teacher Lev Mihalik has been selected as this year's UBC Alumni Educator of the Year for his efforts to connect with youth and inspire student filmmakers.

A media production and ADST teacher at École Salish Secondary has been named this year’s Alumni Educator of the Year by the University of British Columbia Faculty of Education for his outstanding work to support youth in and out of the classroom.

Lev Mihalik is being recognized for his mentorship abilities, inclusive education advocacy and efforts to foster deep connections and trust with students, as well as his use of media education and storytelling to empower students in filmmaking for more than 15 years. His approach to teaching emphasizes media literacy, creativity and resilience, inspiring a sense of imagination while instilling confidence in students for academic and professional success.

“The recognition is awesome, it’s an honour for sure,” said Mihalik. “It’s the kind of work I’ve always done and I’m just fortunate to be in such a supportive school and district.

“Surrey’s been special in the sense that I don’t think I’m doing anything that different, but they really seem to appreciate what I’m doing in the classroom and with these kids in particular.”

The roots of Mihalik’s interest in teaching began in his teenage years at Templeton Secondary in East Vancouver, an inner-city school where he himself was an at-risk youth. The school hosted a program for troubled teens, which he attended, not knowing the lifelong impact it would have on him or his future teaching career.

“That program helped me tremendously in life,” said Mihalik. “A lot of the kids there just didn’t like the setting, and it kind of hardens them almost as an identity, like, ‘School’s not for me.’ And unfortunately, that’s part of how they think of themselves.

“My experience in that program informed how I try to connect with students today. I tell them it’s okay if they don’t like school, I’m not here to give them a hard time – I want to get to know you first. That alone seems to go huge distances in getting them to feel comfortable and making school a place that they want to go to.”

Coincidentally, Templeton was also home to a high-level film program that Mihalik attended simultaneously, igniting a passion for filmmaking that still burns today, and turned out to be his initial segue into teaching.

“When I was still in high school, there was an opportunity for students in the film program to teach filmmaking summer camps,” he said. “That kind of got me into that educational setting. And when I graduated, I kept coming back to these programs and got a lot of classroom experience by volunteering my time, and the program got me a scholarship to become a teacher.

“It wasn’t something I had ever thought I would do, but one thing led to the other and they really appreciated the work I was putting in. I took the opportunity and here I am.”

Mihalik got his start with the Vancouver School Board and later Surrey Schools as a priority teacher on call, filling in at more than 20 schools across Surrey and White Rock before taking a contract with Frank Hurt Secondary a few years ago. For the 2024-25 school year, he transferred to École Salish, leading media production and applied design, skills and technology for Grade 8 to 10 students.

During the summer, Mihalik also leads the SFU Film Academy and is a co-founder of Young Moviemakers, an award-winning acting and film camp for children and youth, carrying forward more than two decades of teaching experience into his filmmaking endeavours.

“When I look back at everything, a big theme is good opportunities coming out of giving back,” he said. “I don’t think any of these things that happened I expected. I’ve always kind of gravitated in the direction of what I felt were good opportunities for me and the people I worked with or my students.

“It’s something I share with my students – look at those opportunities that show up and you try to figure out where they may go, beyond the classroom.”

While the award was a huge surprise to Mihalik, he said he is incredibly grateful and emphasized he couldn’t do what he does without the support of his peers at École Salish Secondary.

“I work with so many fantastic, remarkable teachers,” he said. “I think schools need that variety of teachers to connect with a variety of students. I just happen to be able to connect with this subset of type of kid, whereas it’s necessary to have so many different personalities and teachers to connect with all the different types of kids. This is what works for me.”

Congratulations, Lev, on receiving the 2025 UBC Alumni Educator of the Year Award!