Tom Farley BA’19 didn’t envision a profession in elementary schooling when he graduated from Willamette College as an Economics main. Now, when he performs his guitar for his college students or bonds with them over a mutual love of basketball, Farley realizes that his path couldn’t be a greater match. What drew him to educating, and what retains him there, are the values that took root not solely in his Willamette school rooms, however within the wider group that formed his time right here.
“At Willamette, there are such a lot of alternatives to discover your pursuits and develop into a well-rounded particular person,” Farley says. “That didn’t solely make me extra adaptable post-graduation, it gave me the liberty to determine what I wished to be taught. That is the whole lot for a school scholar.”
Farley picked up his guitar as a sophomore in his Kaneko Commons dorm room and began writing and recording songs. This ardour impressed an Arts, Know-how, and Multimedia minor so he may concurrently pursue his love for music. He didn’t cease there. By his junior yr, Farley was performing with the Males’s Ensemble choir (now Vox) and Headband acapella group.
The inventive exploration Farley was capable of pursue with music match completely with the human-centered, liberal arts strategy he present in Willamette’s Economics division. In his economics programs, Farley says he discovered extra than simply financial idea; he additionally gained a brand new means of trying on the world.
“Willamette didn’t construction economics in a means that simply set me as much as work, say, within the monetary sector or to make a bunch of cash off different folks. It taught me to consider totally different views on the planet, the best way our society is structured, and the totally different outcomes of assorted financial programs,” Farley says.
“That methodology of studying has been invaluable to me as an educator within the age of AI, as my district grapples with the best way youngsters have modified in a screen-based surroundings.”
Farley additionally took Emeritus Professor Mike Nord’s course Creating Music With Digital Know-how, which helped him discover the intersections of artwork and know-how — an strategy he nonetheless makes use of along with his college students in the present day.
“Popping out of Willamette,” he continues, “each my main and minor geared up me with a foundational means of trying on the world that helps me adapt to know-how because it advances each 5-10 years. I’m utilizing know-how myself to drive engagement and improve my college students’ expertise through the use of video, music, and visible slides to achieve the children.”
Farley, whose impression was not too long ago acknowledged with a Cupertino Union Faculty District 2026 Superintendent’s Award for exemplary educating and classroom management, taught fourth grade for 3 years, however will transition to function his college’s Third-Fifth grade music trainer.
As Farley strikes on to his subsequent chapter of educating, he holds the Willamette motto — “Not unto ourselves alone are we born” — on the core of his educating ethos, carrying classes from his undergraduate schooling in and past the classroom.
“Probably the most necessary classes I discovered from Willamette as an educator wasn’t taught: it was proven by professors connecting with college students all through my entire expertise,” he continues. “The place else are you able to play basketball three days every week with a professor like Nathan Sivers Boyce? These deep relationships have been very important to my Willamette schooling.”
