Throughout the entire year, physics teacher Michael Thompson’s room is filled with students eager for help as they all prepare for their upcoming physics test.
Thompson grew up in Frederick and when he was young he had interests in becoming an architect but later on when in high school he found a new passion in physics. Despite the new passion, he still continued to go to college majoring in architecture but then quickly switched over to becoming a physics major.
Thompson grew a passion for teaching when he would tutor his friends in the subject and people in the community when he would partake in community service opportunities. Then, he felt that what he liked most about physics overall was the idea of figuring it out well enough to teach the subject. From this grown interest, Thompson decided to enter a graduate program for education so that he could pursue teaching.
Following graduate school, Thompson did his training in the DC public school system, and eventually worked at three public high schools there. That then set him up to start teaching at Frederick High School were he spent his first five years of teaching and it is also where he grew up. Then after the five years he made an eventual move into the Montgomery County school system where he has remained since. Thompson has always wanted to help his students and make physics easier for them. “I like trying to come up with new ways to have students experience physics and understand it better,” Thompson said.
Reflecting on the pandemic which brought a complete change in the school environments, Thompson along with his colleagues feel that it is tougher for teachers to be teaching in these environments. They feel that students are not able to retain as much information anymore, but at first thought it was an issue from the year spent online. However, now they are noticing that it is a concerning trend as this issue is not getting better. Despite this challenge, Thompson still loves to teach his subject and enjoys the company of his students. “I enjoy the most positive energy in high school and I enjoy all the different personalities that you meet by teaching high school physics in particular,” Thompson said.
Thompson has continued to have patience and explain topics thoroughly whenever asked to according to his students. His students have also enjoyed having him as a teacher so far throughout the year. “He is good at explaining physics and helps me when I ask questions,” junior Zayne Shyr said.
Along with him being a good teacher, students have said that they love his class mainly because of the attitude and energy he brings everyday. “Mr Thompson is a really good teacher as he is really nice and friendly towards all of his students,” junior Agamraj Singh said.
Besides teaching, Thompson enjoys doing activities with his favorite being the Little Bennett trails near his house as he likes to go trail running. He enjoys taking his dog as well and they both enjoy it and go all throughout the year.
