Introduction to Tom Kertes
Tom Kertes is a high school teacher in Prince Rupert, BC. He was born in Ellensburg, Washington in 1973 and he grew up in Cheney, Washington, a small farming and college town near Spokane.
Tom moved to Canada, in 2007, in opposition to torture in America’s “War on Terror”. He immigrated to Canada, with his now husband Ron Braun, with permanent residency and he later became a citizen of Canada in 2014. Tom is now a dual Canadian-American citizen.
[Tom Kertes] had been thinking of [immigrating to] Canada since the invasion of Iraq and the US government began using “enhanced interrogation techniques” on detainees. The Guardian – ‘An alternative exists’
Professional Values
First and foremost, public education exists to provide education on a universal (barrier-free) basis for. Public education is one pillar of liberal democracy, a society based in respect for individual human rights and rule by democratic institutions and the rule of law.
Education empowers students through the acquisition and production of knowledge. Through education, the student gains the capacity to”to know” and it up to the student, not the teacher or “system”, to determine what knowledge to attain, how to use this knowledge, and the values and beliefs that underpin the application of knowledge.
I am a teacher because I believe that human life is sacred, everyone is born worthy of unconditional respect, and that human dignity is endowed, inherent, universal, infinite, and absolute. The following passage, from my Masters thesis sums up how these values are at the centre my work as a public school teacher:
The recognition of human life as sacred is an expression of praxis, which according to Paulo Freire, is “the action and reflection of men and women upon their world in order to transform it”. Praxis – reflective action – is humanization, a means by which the sanctity of human life is animated; it is how the sanctification of human life is both made possible and how it is realized. Praxis is also at the heart of education. Praxis, as a form of learning, connects to Lev Vygotsky‘s conception of the zone of proximal development (learning proceeding development) by how learning, in this sense, makes humanization possible. According to Vygotsky, “properly organized learning results in mental development and sets in motion a variety of developmental processes that would be impossible apart from learning”. This makes organized learning (education) a “necessary and universal aspect of the process of developing culturally organized, specifically human, psychological functions” (Vygotsky). Praxis (reflective action) and learning (proximal development) are at the heart of “humanizing education”. Why teach with integrity in public education?
Professional Experience
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.
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.
Contact Tom Kertes
Phone/Text: 778-884-5343
Email: tomkertes@gmail.com