You may know him as the tech guy in the atrium, but David Thompson is also the head coach of the varsity softball team and JR’s very own Instructional Coach of Technology.
Thompson, a DC native, grew up in Adams Morgan and attended Oyster Elementary School, Alice Deal Middle School, and Wilson High School (now Jackson-Reed). During his time at JR, Thompson played baseball, participated on the Speech and Debate Team, and performed in the school band. He then attended Georgia Institute of Technology, where he majored in Business. Since his undergraduate education, Thompson has received a master’s degree in teaching from Trinity University in DC, in addition to a master’s degree in Administration from George Mason University.
Following his own education, Thompson taught English as a Second Language (ESL) for two years at Marie Reed Bilingual Elementary School in Adams Morgan, before teaching math at John Francis Education Campus for one year. Thompson ventured back to JR in 1996, where he worked for 10 consecutive years. He taught Geometry and Algebra 1, before becoming the Department Chair of Computer Science, developing and building the computer science program. In 2006, Thompson left to work in the DCPS Central Office for seven years, serving as a specialist in career and technological education. He worked on a program called ‘DCPS Bridges,’ providing eighth graders with a four-year high school plan.
He returned to JR in 2012 as a math instructional coach, but is also commonly referred to as the ‘tech guy.’ Thompson has also enjoyed coaching the softball team since 2017. “I love making a positive influence on people’s lives. [On the field] I like to think I’m a teacher. I’ll have a lesson plan, a strategy. I get to know the players so I can have an individual strategy for each one.”
This spring Thompson’s softball team sits 5-5-1 as they eye a 12th straight DCIAA championship.
In his free time, Thompson is a singer in the ‘NPC Band,’ and spends his summer working on his family farm in West Virginia, where they grow blueberries. He enjoys traveling and is the travel ambassador for Jackson-Reed. Thompson has gone to Senegal with the Travel Abroad Program, Dubai and Abu Dhabi with the Electric Vehicle Team, Puerto Rico with the softball team, and Mexico with the robotics team, all experiences which he has enjoyed. Thompson is a proud Eagle Scout, sharing how, “doing a good turn and helping other people at times is part of who I am.”
Nowadays, you can find Coach Thompson at the Help Desk in Jackson-Reed’s atrium, as well as on the softball field. •
