Careers in Education
B.A. in English from Virginia Tech - M.S.Ed from Old Dominion University
Indian River High School - Indian River Junior High (Middle) School
Hickory High School - Virginia Wesleyan University
Easy IEP Special Education Software
Enjoy the sections covering Chesapeake Public Schools, Virginia Wesleyan University,
developments in Education Technology, and News Articles from over the years.
Chesapeake Public Schools - Virginia Wesleyan University - Education Technology - News
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Chesapeake Public Schools
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His 30 years of public school teaching were all in the Chesapeake Public Schools system. He taught Honors World History, World History, U.S. History, Honors U.S. History, AP U.S. History, English 10 and 11, Creative Writing, and Current Issues at Indian River Junior High (1975-1991), Indian River High School (1973-1974; 1991-1996), and Hickory High School (1996-2004). He was the first Social Studies Department Chair at Hickory High School, won Teacher of the Year at IRJHS (1988), DAR History Teacher of the Year (2003), and has always been a leader in promoting and implementing technology in the classroom. The Special Education internet software - "EasyIEP" - (currently owned by PCG, Inc.) - was developed and built by Soft Pubs, Inc...a company created and staffed by Tom and his brother, Willard W. Farley, Jr. It is the top special education internet database software being sold in the United States today.
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Virginia Wesleyan University
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He expanded his education resume and experience as a professor and administrator at Virginia Wesleyan University for over 28 years (1986-2014), He is the retired Director of the Adult Studies Program (2009-2014) and Program Development Coordinator K-12 (2005-2014). He is also a retired VWU adjunct professor, teaching evening classes for over 24 years. His courses were Physical Geography, Cultural Geography, and Human Geography (GEOG 111, 112 and 113), Secondary Education (Social Studies) Methods (EDUC 375), and Technology for Teaching (EDUC 301) - courses designed, developed, and taught by Tom at Virginia Wesleyan University. In the area of public school teacher support, Tom, Nancy Winter-Traynor, and Dr. Shirley Hart developed the VWU National Board Certified Teachers Support Center - advancing the public awareness and teacher-based support for National Board Certification candidates in Southeast Virginia.
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Educational Technology
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In the area of business, he is the former President of Soft Pubs Incorporated - makers of Educational and IEP Internet Database software. The flagship of the Soft Pubs' line was Easy IEP®, an internet database for compiling, manipulating, and querying Special Education IEPs and their data. It is currently being sold by PCG, Inc. and is the top selling special education software in the country. It is currently being utilized by school systems and districts nationwide....including Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Boston, Newark, Houston, Danville, Broward County, The District of Columbia, Illinois Cooperatives and Districts, Minneapolis, Dallas, Springfield, the State of Tennessee, Philadelphia, Chicago, and hundreds of city, county, and independent school districts in 30+ states across the nation. One in five IEPs in the US are created and managed using EasyIEP .
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