Born in Kansas City, Kansas, Chris Phillips actually grew up in Chicago. Chris was raised by a single mom who worked multiple jobs to keep the family afloat. His older sister was a strong mother figure to him in her absence. Chris grew up playing sports and spending time in the principal's office. Not a student who focused on academics, Chris found himself getting into trouble on a regular basis. Besides sports, Chris loved music and wanted to be Bob Dillion by the time he graduated from Ottawa High School. As Chris grew up, he crossed paths with two men in the academic world who saw who he was and provided both opportunity and direction for him. Filling a need for male leadership, these men made a definite mark on his life. Chris had a high school advisor that put him in a room to write music. Having played guitar, he now switched to piano. Another mentor encouraged college, and his sister actually lent him $2K to get started. This is when he also began formal piano lessons. After spending two years at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, he earned an Associates degree in General Science. He continued playing the piano and transferred to Portland State University. At this time he tried to switch to Jazz Studies and then that door closed. It was here he met musician Darrell Grant. Chris ended up graduating from Portland State Univ. with a Geology degree and a minor in Jazz Music. After graduation he had a desire to teach and so went on to get his Master of Arts in Teaching from Concordia University. Chris had a desire to "pay it forward" to give students the extra boost of belief and guidance that was so generously given to him. Knowing Corbett teacher Chad Clark, he heard about a teaching opportunity in Corbett. He interviewed for and was hired as an Intermediate Teacher at CAPS in 2012. When talking about the kids in his classroom, he gets a bit emotional. He said they mean everything to him. He said their families have had him to dinner in their homes and he cares about them as if they are his own, trying to encourage and guide them as he was by teachers that truly cared. When Chris was playing music in Illinois during his first two years of college, he met a waitress at a restaurant that he and his bandmates often stopped at for catfish. When he left and moved to Portland to start college, he heard from bandmates that she was also making a move to the area. They decided to meet up for coffee, and the rest is history. Louisa is the love of his life! Teaching by day at CAPS, Chris plays music in the evenings to fill a passion in his heart and also help pay off big student loans!
