About Tom Kertes

Tom Kertes is a high school teacher in Prince Rupert, BC. He grew up in Cheney, WA, a small farming and college town outside of Spokane, and moved to Canada, with his now husband Ron Braun, in 2007. Tom immigrated to Canada with permanent residency and became a citizen of Canada in 2014. He is currently a dual citizen of Canada and the United States.

Tom moved from Seattle and Baltimore to Canada, first to Toronto and then to Vancouver. Tom then moved to Daajing Giids in 2015 — changing careers from communications and policy 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 Language Arts at the high school since 2023.

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.

Tom also helped produce viral videos and other media campaigns that were viewed by tens of millions of people. His media campaigns were covered by the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, CBC News, the New York Times, ABC News, the Washington Post, the Guardian, and other national news outlets.

(Tom’s views on this blog reflect his own views, not necessarily those of his employer.)

Strong Community

Whether he’s advocating for clean water and for better communication and support when a boil notice is in place, public infrastructure to keep taxes and fees low, retaining a municipal library board to keep our library local, reopening places of worship in the final weeks of the pandemic lockdowns, Tom is committed to helping build a strong community for everyone.

Tom is past president of the North Coast 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 currently volunteers at:

• Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church, Chair of Church Council
• Navy League Prince Rupert Branch, Secretary
• Prince Rupert District Teachers’ Union (PRDTU), Labour Liaison Representative and past Vice President
• Museum of Northern British Columbia, Board Member
• North Coast Labour Council, PRDTU Delegate and past President

(Tom’s views on this blog reflect his own views, not necessarily those of the above organizations.)

Literacy & Community

Tom’s passion: Literacy. That’s why he teaches Language Arts, owned a children’s book store outside of Seattle, was a college instructor in early literacy and early childhood development at Seneca College in Toronto, was an early childhood educator at UBC Child Care in Vancouver, and currently volunteers as coach of the middle school and high school debate teams.

Tom was a policy advisor at the self-regulatory College of Early Childhood Educators in Ontario, where he helped launch North America’s first self-regulatory body for Early Childhood Educators. Tom was also an instructor of Early Childhood Education at Seneca College in Toronto and he worked at UBC Child Care as an early childhood educator in Vancouver, helping care for toddlers and preschoolers. 

Tom’s other passion: Community. As a community organizer for living wages in Baltimore, Tom helped triple the wages paid to a mostly homeless day labourer workforce of cleaners at the Camden Yards baseball park. This campaign focused on the values of respect for all, the dignity of all, and people working together for equality.

He was also an organizer for pay equity for early childhood educators at UBC. Working with his union, the BCGEU, Tom and other UBC early childhood educators secured a 20% pay increase in a single round of collective bargaining, without an increase in fees and without reducing access to quality child care for UBC families.

Contact Tom Kertes

Phone/Text: 778-884-5343
Email: tomkertes@gmail.com