Hawks Nest to gain new tech teacher; Thompson leaving NHMS at end of year

 Coming in as a new FOT and intro to media teacher, A familiar face will be joining the Hawks Nest next fall.  NHMS teacher Mr.  Andrew Thompson is coming to the high school and joining the tech ed department.    Thompson explains “after eight years at the middle school, I was starting to feel like I needed a change of pace, luckily an opportunity came up at the high school and the content I will be teaching is right up my alley.”         

         Even though the middle and high school start and end at the same time, the structure of the day is different.  The transferring teacher says, “I think a lot of things will be different moving to the high school.”  He adds that “teaching in semesters and in a block schedule will be two of the biggest changes but knowing many of the students already makes me feel like there will be some of the same environment as well.” 

    At the middle school, some special area classes are restricted for the content allowed to be taught. Thompson shares, “I think the longer classes and semesters will allow me and my students to get into some really amazing and detailed projects.” The wider range of content allows students and teachers to learn more about different subjects. 

    This is not his first time working at a high school. His only high school teaching experiences are from “student teaching high school chorus when I was wrapping up my Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education.” 

    Thompson explains his subject of “Engineering and Design [as] amazing subjects that are always growing, changing, and adapting to the world oftentimes leading the change.” He also says,  “they are two subjects that are highly sought after for careers in and out of their individual fields.  The ability to problem solve and design are skills that any employer would find value in, regardless of job/career field.” 

    The teacher mentioned he wanted a change from something he’s been doing for the past few years. He explained “when the tech position opened at the high school I jumped at the chance and now I am very excited to teach FOT and Intro to Media especially since it gives me an opportunity to use all the skills I developed while minoring in musical theater in college.” 

    In the past, students remember having him as a teacher.  Sophomore Emma Quick had him as a teacher in 6th grade and remembers him as  “a fun teacher to be around.” 

    Quick thinks he’ll be a good fit for the high school because “he makes good connections with students and is easy to talk to.”  

    Junior Cole Younger had him as an FOT teacher in 7th grade said he liked him teaching style because “he was very laid back and a class you didn’t have to worry about because of how fun he made it.”  Younger also mentioned “he was a cool teacher and I would always look forward to him class.” 

    Junior Julia Eakes had Thompson in 8th grade and said, “he’s very laid back on students but can discipline students when needed.” She mentioned he did a lot of projects and “made the content interesting.”