Meet the Focus on Learning Curriculum Development Team
Thomas Patrick Scharenborg
STEM Specialist, Test Preparation Specialist
Mr. Thomas Scharenborg
B.S., Physics, M.Ed., STEM Curriculum & Instruction
Tom is President of Focus on Learning. He has worked at FOL since 2007, to help develop and build the services and programs currently available. Tom works with students, cultivating the joy of learning, study skills, time management, test preparation, and test anxiety mitigation practices.
He is a STEAM specialist: Science, Technology, Engineering, Fine Art: Photography & Media Arts, and Mathematics.
“I enjoy sharing new and exciting ways to incorporate these subject areas into daily life. I also collaborate with teachers, parents, and educators on developing ways to integrate these disciplines into curriculums and help create resources aimed at the next generation to enhance and enrich their lives.”
In his spare time, Tom enjoys cycling, backpacking, camping, practicing Martial Arts, and photography. Tom also enjoys traveling to Japan and learning to speak the native language as often as possible!
Dr. Traci Cox
Focus On Learning Office Manager
English and Reading Tutor, Test Prep English and Reading Coach
Traci@FocusOnLearningCenter.com
Traci Cox has a Ph.D. in English/Creative Writing from the University of Missouri. She has fourteen years of teaching experience in the U.S. and abroad. Traci is the recipient of a J.W. Fulbright Fellowship through the U.S. State Department, as well as the G. Ellsworth Huggins Fellowship through the University of Missouri. Traci holds an M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction Prose from George Mason University and a B.A. with Honors and Distinction in English and Anthropology from James Madison University. Her creative and scholarly writing has appeared in publications such as The Journal of American Folklore, The Masters Review, and Madison Magazine. Traci is a postdoctoral faculty member in the English Department at the University of Missouri.
Adam Byko, Ph.D. Candidate
ELA Tutor
ACT, P/SAT, ELA Tutoring Specialist
Adam@FocusOnLearningCenter.com
Adam Byko is a writer, educator, and PhD candidate at the University of Missouri. Prior to coming to Missouri, Adam received his MFA from the University of Central Florida and taught high school English and standardized test prep at what has been ranked one of the top two high schools in the state of Florida. As a writer, his work has appeared in the Notre Dame Review, Willow Springs, The Pinch, Catapult, and F(r)iction among other publications.
“In one-on-one tutoring, I believe in adapting instruction to meet the individualized student needs that may be overlooked in a larger classroom setting. As a tutor, I take pains to identify those learning challenges specific to the individual student and to tailor my instruction to meet that student’s unique needs and help them achieve their own personalized goals.”
Tim Larkin, M.Ed.
Math and Science Consultant
ACT, Math and Science Specialist
TLarkin@FocusOnLearningCenter.com
Tim Larkin has over 30 years of classroom teaching experience, including middle school through college level math. His goal is to help guide Focus On Learning with building lesson plans geared towards helping students experience the beauty of learning, and to better understand how math and science can be more meaningful in the classroom, as well as in their daily lives.
Tim obtained a B.A in education from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, a B.S. in physics from Lincoln University, and an M. Ed. in education from Lincoln University with an emphasis in mathematics. Tim has additional coursework beyond a Master’s degree in math and physics through the University of Missouri of Columbia.
Tim enjoys spending time with family and has agricultural interests to include being a hobby sheep farmer. He has also been a PTRA (Physics Teacher Resource Agent) through the American Association of Physics Teachers.
Focus on Learning represents many things for my family and me: new beginnings, change, progress, serenity, and peace, to name a few. I really look forward to what the future has to offer for FOL. I am proud and lucky to be a part of such a wonderful team.
Dr. Gary Moss
Standardized Test Coaching and Preparation Specialist
ACT, P/SAT, Mathematics and Statistics Specialist
Gary.Moss@FocusOnLearningCenter.com
Gary Moss has over 40 years of classroom teaching, research,experience, including middle school through college level mathematics and statistics. Dr. Moss also has done extensive research on the effectiveness of coaching and planning strategies for teachers to help them better prepare students for taking standardized college admissions tests. His work set the foundation for the framework currently used at Focus On Learning to offer professional development seminars such as Teaching for ACT Success (TFS) and Teachers as ACT Coaches (TAC). These seminars help teachers learn how to better integrate standardized test coaching and preparation models into the classroom environment.
Dr. Moss graduated Magna cum laude from the University of Missouri- Saint Louis, and earned his Ph.D. From the University of Missouri- Columbia.
Dr. Moss enjoys spending time with his wife traveling, running, and biking. They are also actively involved with their church youth programs.
Focus on Learning is a wonderful place– where I can offer help to students by helping them connect something they know with something they need to know.
Ene-Kaja Chippendale, Ph.D.
Founder and President-Emeritus, Learning Specialist
READING, WRITING, ACT, P/SAT
EneC@FocusOnLearningCenter.com
Dr. Ene-Kaja Chippendale is the founder and president of Focus on Learning. She has worked for many years with students of all ages and needs to enhance their reading, writing, and learning skills. She adapts instruction to accommodate each student’s learning style and works with students to promote their love for reading. Her goal is to help students become confident and successful life-long learners.
Dr. Chippendale’s ACT workshops prepare teachers to coach the ACT and incorporate reading, English, and writing strategies into their classroom curricula. She also coaches students for the ACT, PSAT, and SAT.
A founding member of the Gifted Association of Missouri, she has been active in GAM, TAWL, LDA, and CHADD.
Dr. Chippendale graduated from Oberlin College and received an M.A. in English Literature from the University of Wisconsin. She earned a Ph.D. in reading, linguistics, and learning disabilities at the University of Missouri. Her post-doctoral program at the University of Maryland prepared teachers to integrate students with special needs into regular classrooms. Prior to opening Focus on Learning in 1985, Dr. Chippendale taught at the University of Wisconsin, University of Missouri, and Central Methodist University, where she also set up the Student Development Center.
In her spare time, Dr. Chippendale enjoys reading, music, traveling, walking, and spoiling her grandchildren.
Contact our office for more information at:
FOLCI@FocusOnLearningCenter.com