Meet Our Teachers
Tom Condon – a.k.a. “Major Tom”
I am fortunate to have been born and raised in Spokane. Much of my childhood was spent building treehouses and exploring the forest behind our house and being blessed with the World’s Fair in our downtown where I was exposed to the ideas of urban renewal, ecology, and the cultures of the world. After graduation from High School while pursuing my undergraduate degree at Western Washington University I met my future wife Stephanie in Astronomy class. After graduation, Stephanie and I answered the call of service and joined the Peace Corps and served as volunteers in Mali, West Africa. Based on this profound experience we choose to move to the East Coast and attend the University of Maryland in Baltimore, where I earned a Masters in Education while serving as a Shriver Peaceworker, managing a Service-Learning grant for higher education. After teaching three years in Baltimore, upon the birth of our son Sam, we returned to the great Evergreen State. Since moving to Olympia, I worked with the Komachin Middle School science team for 14 years where the focus was hands-on science labs, field based study, and service learning. During that time I earned my National Boards Certification in Adolescent Science. Since 2015, I am blessed to be working with my good friend and colleague Matthew where we created the Citizen Science Institute at Marshall. We are now embarking on our fourth year of a great journey creating science literate citizens of Olympia. I am very excited about the coming year re-energized from a frenetic summer of hiking, biking, watching our daughter play soccer and enjoying our son who is home for the summer from his first year at college.
Matthew Phillipy – a.k.a. “Ranger Phillipy”
What a summer! D.C, Ranger time in the Olympic National Forest and Germany! I can hardly breathe after all the exploring I’ve done since we last met. In case you forgot about me or have no idea who I am, let me tell you a little bit about me. I was born and raised in Spokane, Washington. I grew up exploring forests, mountains and rivers. It was through my explorations I forged an amazing relationship with nature. Upon graduation from high school I journeyed west to Seattle to explore the Puget Sound, the Cascades and Olympic Mountains. As time went on my passion for nature grew and I knew I wanted to have a career where I could explore, share and protect nature. I graduated from The Evergreen State College with a degree in Environmental Science in 2003 and upon graduation I worked as a National Park Ranger at Mount Rainier for a few seasons and then moved back to Spokane to obtain a Masters in Education from Eastern Washington University in 2005. I taught for nine years at an amazing project-based magnet school where my philosophy of “learning by doing” was embraced by my peers and students. Four years ago I moved back to Olympia and helped start the Citizen Science Institute at Marshall Middle School. Our goal with CSI is to help connect kids to science, nature, community and citizenship. In my spare time I like to hike, bike, kayak, play disc golf, study Star Wars, read the good books and hang out with my son Oliver and my dog Kenobi.
Marisa Dillard
I’m the newbie on the CSI team, and I have the privilege of integrating ELA (English-Language Arts) into the CSI program. I grew up in Orange County, California and found my way to Seattle as a graduate student in 2004, earning a Masters Degree in Theology. I worked as a private behavioral therapist, assisting kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In 2018, our family broke free from the traffic and chaos of Seattle and relocated to a quiet neighborhood in West Olympia. I worked in the Olympia School District as a special education Paraeducator and earned my Masters of Arts in Teaching degree last year from Western Governors University. I am a Mom to two OSD kiddos. I have a sixth grader and an eight grader here at Thurgood Marshall Middle School. My husband is also an educator, teaching English at Capital High School. I enjoy reading, listening to podcasts, working in my garden, cooking, camping and spending time with my family. Being part of the CSI team truly is a dream come true. I am committed to Project Based Learning, to social justice, and to ensuring students use their voices to become activists for change. I am thrilled to be working alongside Professor Phillipy and Major Tom as well as learning from your interesting, talented, and engaging students.
I am fortunate to have been born and raised in Spokane. Much of my childhood was spent building treehouses and exploring the forest behind our house and being blessed with the World’s Fair in our downtown where I was exposed to the ideas of urban renewal, ecology, and the cultures of the world. After graduation from High School while pursuing my undergraduate degree at Western Washington University I met my future wife Stephanie in Astronomy class. After graduation, Stephanie and I answered the call of service and joined the Peace Corps and served as volunteers in Mali, West Africa. Based on this profound experience we choose to move to the East Coast and attend the University of Maryland in Baltimore, where I earned a Masters in Education while serving as a Shriver Peaceworker, managing a Service-Learning grant for higher education. After teaching three years in Baltimore, upon the birth of our son Sam, we returned to the great Evergreen State. Since moving to Olympia, I worked with the Komachin Middle School science team for 14 years where the focus was hands-on science labs, field based study, and service learning. During that time I earned my National Boards Certification in Adolescent Science. Since 2015, I am blessed to be working with my good friend and colleague Matthew where we created the Citizen Science Institute at Marshall. We are now embarking on our fourth year of a great journey creating science literate citizens of Olympia. I am very excited about the coming year re-energized from a frenetic summer of hiking, biking, watching our daughter play soccer and enjoying our son who is home for the summer from his first year at college.
Matthew Phillipy – a.k.a. “Ranger Phillipy”
What a summer! D.C, Ranger time in the Olympic National Forest and Germany! I can hardly breathe after all the exploring I’ve done since we last met. In case you forgot about me or have no idea who I am, let me tell you a little bit about me. I was born and raised in Spokane, Washington. I grew up exploring forests, mountains and rivers. It was through my explorations I forged an amazing relationship with nature. Upon graduation from high school I journeyed west to Seattle to explore the Puget Sound, the Cascades and Olympic Mountains. As time went on my passion for nature grew and I knew I wanted to have a career where I could explore, share and protect nature. I graduated from The Evergreen State College with a degree in Environmental Science in 2003 and upon graduation I worked as a National Park Ranger at Mount Rainier for a few seasons and then moved back to Spokane to obtain a Masters in Education from Eastern Washington University in 2005. I taught for nine years at an amazing project-based magnet school where my philosophy of “learning by doing” was embraced by my peers and students. Four years ago I moved back to Olympia and helped start the Citizen Science Institute at Marshall Middle School. Our goal with CSI is to help connect kids to science, nature, community and citizenship. In my spare time I like to hike, bike, kayak, play disc golf, study Star Wars, read the good books and hang out with my son Oliver and my dog Kenobi.
Marisa Dillard
I’m the newbie on the CSI team, and I have the privilege of integrating ELA (English-Language Arts) into the CSI program. I grew up in Orange County, California and found my way to Seattle as a graduate student in 2004, earning a Masters Degree in Theology. I worked as a private behavioral therapist, assisting kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In 2018, our family broke free from the traffic and chaos of Seattle and relocated to a quiet neighborhood in West Olympia. I worked in the Olympia School District as a special education Paraeducator and earned my Masters of Arts in Teaching degree last year from Western Governors University. I am a Mom to two OSD kiddos. I have a sixth grader and an eight grader here at Thurgood Marshall Middle School. My husband is also an educator, teaching English at Capital High School. I enjoy reading, listening to podcasts, working in my garden, cooking, camping and spending time with my family. Being part of the CSI team truly is a dream come true. I am committed to Project Based Learning, to social justice, and to ensuring students use their voices to become activists for change. I am thrilled to be working alongside Professor Phillipy and Major Tom as well as learning from your interesting, talented, and engaging students.