Before coming to CIE, Tom served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Armenia. He came to UMass looking to prepare himself for a teaching career in science and EFL, both internationally and domestically.

After graduating he taught in Novosibirsk, Russia for a year, and then taught at a charter school in Providence Rhode Island for another year.  After that he worked for five years at the CATS Academy in Boston teaching science and ESL science. He also served as chair of the Science Department.

In 2020 he left the US and spent a couple of years teaching at the Haile-Manas Academy in Debre Birhan, Ethiopia. HMA is a residential high school for Ethiopian students across the country regardless of economic background. There he taught integrated biology and chemistry courses as well as English. 

In 2022 he moved to Chennai Tamil Nadu, India to teach at the American International School where he is an Integrated Biology/Chemistry teacher and specializes in teaching science content to international students and lower EFL/ESL students. He also runs Dungeons and Dragons for the students.  He plans to move on at the end of the 2024 school year for a destination as yet undetermined. [12-23]

Email: tomacoon@gmail.com