DID YOU KNOW?
Tacoma’s story spans more than two centuries from the time Captain George Vancouver anchored off Tacoma’s north shore in 1792.
In 1870, Tacoma’s natural deep-water port became an attraction that the Northern Pacific Railroad couldn’t pass up, when it made Tacoma a stop on its transcontinental line.
Old Tacoma and New Tacoma merged in 1884 and incorporated as Tacoma. By 1890, the population reached 36,000 people.
Tacoma is home to the Port of Tacoma, the seventh-largest container port in the United States, and it is within 20 miles of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and 36 miles of the city of Seattle.
Brady Christoph,
2nd Grade
Brady Christoph teaches second grade. “I hope kids can discover that learning is its own reward, not something you do for your parents, teachers, a grade, or anyone else,” says Christoph. “It’s a personal endeavor.”
Because his class is limited to about 18 students, Christoph finds he has the time he needs to work individually with each student. During a research assignment about Washington state, a student wanted to research something related to horses. “We came up with Appaloosas because the Nez Perce in southeast Washington originally bred them,” explains Christoph. “She needed a math/science component to her research, so I introduced her to the ideas behind Mendelian genetics and together we did a Punnett square to illustrate horse genetics and determine the probability of various outcomes. It was exciting to get to bring the concepts of phenotype and genotype in the elementary classroom.”
In addition to teaching, Christoph coaches the Lower School running club, leads a Sunday school class at his church, and volunteers as a math tutor at Mt. Tahoma High School. He joined the Charles Wright faculty in 2007 and says he “can’t imagine being anywhere else.” His students are often intrigued to learn that he was once a park ranger and wildlands firefighter. He enjoys opera, running and cooking.
Because his class is limited to about 18 students, Christoph finds he has the time he needs to work individually with each student. During a research assignment about Washington state, a student wanted to research something related to horses. “We came up with Appaloosas because the Nez Perce in southeast Washington originally bred them,” explains Christoph. “She needed a math/science component to her research, so I introduced her to the ideas behind Mendelian genetics and together we did a Punnett square to illustrate horse genetics and determine the probability of various outcomes. It was exciting to get to bring the concepts of phenotype and genotype in the elementary classroom.”
In addition to teaching, Christoph coaches the Lower School running club, leads a Sunday school class at his church, and volunteers as a math tutor at Mt. Tahoma High School. He joined the Charles Wright faculty in 2007 and says he “can’t imagine being anywhere else.” His students are often intrigued to learn that he was once a park ranger and wildlands firefighter. He enjoys opera, running and cooking.
