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.
Leon Phillips,
8th Grade Math, MS/US Scheduling
Leon Phillips teaches introduction to algebra, algebra and geometry to eighth graders. He hopes that his students always remember that math is not about crunching numbers.
“Numbers without context are meaningless,” says Phillips. “One of the best things I ever heard from a student was, ‘This is the answer I got, but it doesn’t look right.’ That tells me that the student is actually thinking about the problem and not just following some formula.”
Phillips joined the faculty of Charles Wright in 1998. In addition to teaching, Phillips has coached soccer and Ultimate Frisbee, and briefly advised both the Chuck Norris Fan Club and Stomp Club. He also participates in improvisational theatre and cheers wildly at school sporting events.
“The big difference between CWA and other schools I’ve worked at is the trust and camaraderie between faculty members and the hugely positive atmosphere created by a supportive administration. The morale in the Middle School is phenomenal!”
A naturalized citizen of the United States, Phillips graduated from the University of Warwick in England. For two years, he technically had no nationality. In the very brief period between renouncing his British citizenship and taking his oath to the United States, the U.S. Department of Immigration and Naturalization Services mistakenly closed his file and it took Phillips two years to get the file reopened. “The whole story is actually quite interesting,” he says, “especially the part where my fingerprints ‘expired.’”
Visit his web page
“Numbers without context are meaningless,” says Phillips. “One of the best things I ever heard from a student was, ‘This is the answer I got, but it doesn’t look right.’ That tells me that the student is actually thinking about the problem and not just following some formula.”
Phillips joined the faculty of Charles Wright in 1998. In addition to teaching, Phillips has coached soccer and Ultimate Frisbee, and briefly advised both the Chuck Norris Fan Club and Stomp Club. He also participates in improvisational theatre and cheers wildly at school sporting events.
“The big difference between CWA and other schools I’ve worked at is the trust and camaraderie between faculty members and the hugely positive atmosphere created by a supportive administration. The morale in the Middle School is phenomenal!”
A naturalized citizen of the United States, Phillips graduated from the University of Warwick in England. For two years, he technically had no nationality. In the very brief period between renouncing his British citizenship and taking his oath to the United States, the U.S. Department of Immigration and Naturalization Services mistakenly closed his file and it took Phillips two years to get the file reopened. “The whole story is actually quite interesting,” he says, “especially the part where my fingerprints ‘expired.’”
Visit his web page
