Tom Kertes is an American-Canadian high school teacher and essayist in Prince Rupert, BC. He was born in Ellensburg, Washington in 1973 and he grew up in Cheney, WA, a small farming and college town just outside of Spokane.
Tom moved to Canada, with his now husband Ron Braun, in 2007. He immigrated to Canada with permanent residency and became a citizen of Canada in 2014. He is now a dual Canadian-American citizen.
Tom moved to Toronto in 2007 from Seattle/Baltimore and then moved to Vancouver in 2009. He attended the University of Toronto and Simon Fraser University. Tom moved to Daajing Giids in 2015 — changing careers from child care and labour organizing to public education.
From 2015-2018, Tom taught at Tahayghen Elementary in Masset, Sk’aadgaa Naay Elementary in Skidegate, and Gidg̱alang Ḵuuyas Naay in Daajing Giids. He moved from Daajing Giids to Prince Rupert in 2018, first teaching at the middle school for five years and now teaching high school English 2023. Tom coaches the high school Debate Team and advises the school’s Community Builders Club.
Before teaching, Tom helped produce children’s educational television and other media as a communications advisor. He was a production coordinator for Biz Kids, an Emmy Award-winning educational TV series about money and business. He helped produce viral videos and other media campaigns that were viewed by tens of millions of people. These media campaigns were covered by Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, CBC News, New York Times, ABC News, Washington Post, the Guardian, and other news outlets.
Strong Community
Tom is committed to helping build a strong community for everyone. That’s why was an advocate for clean water, public infrastructure, keeping the city’s library under local control, and reopening places of worship in the final weeks of the pandemic lockdowns. He learned about community organizing by working with the United Workers Association in Baltimore, Maryland.
Tom is past president of the North Coast and Haida Gwaii Labour Council, past vice president of the Prince Rupert District Teachers’ Union, and former policy advisor to Ontario’s self-regulatory College of Early Childhood Educators.
Tom volunteers at:
- Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church
- Prince Rupert District Teachers’ Union
- Museum of Northern British Columbia
- North Coast and Haida Gwaii Labour Council
- Friends of the Prince Rupert Library
Contact Tom Kertes
Phone/Text: 778-884-5343
Email: tomkertes@gmail.com