This is the new home-page for Thomas Van Pelt. Listed across the top, you will find information related to a general introduction about myself and my family, my teaching philosophy, my biography, various awards I have received and, my resume. In addition to this, I have also added a section available only to my friends and family that will contain works I only wish to share with them. It’s been nearly five years since I’ve updated this page and as a result, several things have changed as my knowledge of the teaching  profession has grown.

In the award section, I’ve managed to acquire a few new ones that I’m quite proud of and will be expanding this section as my list of accomplishments continues to improve. I’m truly hoping that this is not the point in my life where I’ve reached the limit of my abilities; I sincerely doubt that is true because I seem to learn more every day.

My biography is pretty much the same as it’s always been but may have been expanded with some interests of mine that I’ve decided to pick up again and explore further. Some of the interest include electronics, circuit design, and or course astronomy. In regards to astronomy, I have a continued interest in spectroscopy and some day my long term goal would be to compile a catalog of stars visible with the equipment I currently have.

The introduction is pretty much the same but there is more detail about my growing family and some of my ever-evolving interest. I would suggest beginning your reading here as it will give you a great deal of insight as to whether or not our interest align. Even if our interest do not align, there may be some items of interest that you may either wish to contribute to or inquire about.

The next section available to the general public is my current resume, I’ve left this here because you really never know who may look at it and decide that you are a good fit for their institution and secondly, it’s a safe place for me to store it in the event of some unforeseen catastrophe. So in my opinion, this is more of a safety measure for me rather than some place to advertise for a new position.

My teaching philosophy has certainly changed since the creation of this page. My interest is no longer solely teaching science to middle and high school students but has taken an extreme left turn and directed me in the field of teaching students who are classified as either ESE or ESOL. There are several factors that have contributed to this decision but the most important of which is my own son’s developmental issues. I am also very lucky to have a family member who is highly regarded in this subject area and travels the country giving lectures on some of the newest techniques available. She is also available to me whenever I have questions and many of my professors have also provided some of these same resources to me.

Thank you, Tommy