One educator in the Greene County School District not only is a native to the community, but also spent his entire educational career locally.
Sean Thompson graduated from Jefferson High School in 1987 and after attending Iowa State University, he started teaching elementary physical education in 1993 with the former East Greene School District. He talks about one other class he taught for the first decade of his 32 years in education.
“So PE was only like 7/8 time, they only wanted to offer that. But they (the elementary building) wanted to start computers, they never had computers there. So they said, ‘Well, could you teach computers like 2nd-6th grade?’ I said, ‘Well, I’ve never done that but I took a couple of classes at Iowa State (University).’ So, to make my contract a full contract, they made me do some computer classes, and so that’s where that came from.”
Thompson adds that he also taught high school computer classes with photography and using Adobe Photoshop.
A few years ago, Thompson points out that he started different outdoor physical activities with the elementary students that began with bicycling, then he later added skateboarding and roller skating, and then last year he incorporated a fishing unit. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio he was seeing too many kids online streaming or on electronic devices and not being outside anymore. He pushed to start a biking unit after a survey showed that not many students had a bike or knew how to ride one, and it soon became one of his favorite programs.
“They get scared and they can’t get on it. Once they learn and they start peddling, they’re just so excited. Just watching them do things that they never thought they could do (such as) ride a skateboard, ride a bike, roller skate. Things that are difficult at first, but once they learn, it’s really fun to watch.”
Thompson is looking forward to spending more time with his family, continuing his pool business that he’s done for the past 20 years in the summer and officiating wrestling in his retirement.