Back To School- Technical Theatre
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Meet the Teacher- Sept 15, 2020
Please excuse the awkwardness, I'm normally behind the camera rather than in front. ;)
Mr Thompson's '20-'21 Class Schedule.
Only Log-In During Your Class Period
M, W, F
Period 1: Advanced Technical Theatre- 10:00-11:00
Period 2A: Technical Theatre 1- 11:50-12:50
Period 3: Conference
Period 4: Technical Theatre 1- 2:25-3:25
Theatre Productions Rehearsals 3:30 - ?
T, Th
Period 5: Technical Theatre 1- 10:00-11:30
Period 6A: Technical Theatre 1- 12:20-1:50
Period 7: Theate Productions- 1:55-3:25
Theatre Productions Rehearsals 3:30 - ?
Tutoring available mornings 8:00-9:30 upon request. Contact me in Google Classroom, or Use email link below to request an appointment.

Phone:
Email:
Degrees and Certifications:
Bachelor's of Music Education: Illinois State University IL Certifications: All-Level Music, Band, Secondary Music TX Certifications: All-Level Music, All Level Theatre
Mr. Thompson
Oddly enough, I come to be teaching technical theatre through a round-about way, and a journey full of many different interests, experiences, and backgrounds. Like many others, I started in the Performing Arts learning Clarinet in Band in 5th Grade. Progressing through Lockport Township HS, in the suburbs of Chicago, I was awakened to a love of performance after I auditioned for All-State, on a whim, and made it. After that I knew that I wanted to make music a bigger part of my life, so I expanded into saxophone and percussion when my band director, Dan Valkema, needed someone to play those parts.
Because of their music program and Head Band Director, Steven Steele, I attended Illinois State University. Even though I played in their Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band, and Marching Band, it took another two years for me to realize that I needed to be teaching music for a living. I had started out as a physics major because of my love of science and technology, and then decided that I should at least try to get a relatively steady paycheck, so I switched to a Music Education major. My first theatre experience came when I was student teaching, and was asked to play in the pit orchestra for 2 different musicals in the same month: Annie, and West Side Story.
After graduating with a Bachelor’s of Music Education, I spent my first few years in teaching by moving around Illinois. I taught Band, and 1st year Spanish, in a couple of districts. Along the way I had many opportunities to work in the auditoriums because I understood computers, sound technologies, and picked up lighting quickly. My love of buttons, lights, sounds, and, power tools and piles of wood, all came together when I had the chance to work on the musicals/operettas Pirates of Penzance, and Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. I did set design and construction, as well as lights and sound for those productions. There is an indescribable fun in being able to say I have built both a pirate ship and a church one year, and then a castle, cottage, and clock tower, the next year.
Upon taking a trip to Texas to visit a friend and getting lost, I moved to Texas in 2005. I taught band primarily, had a short interlude as a restauranteur, and another one in Special Education, and worked with the music and drama departments in Gonzales, Del Valle, San Marcos, and Marion, on the technical aspects of their productions. After I had the unique opportunity to each both HS Band and MS Theatre in Marion, I made the transition to teaching theatre full-time, and was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to come to NEISD.
So now I am using my 30+ years in the Performing Arts, 12+ years in education, technical know-how, and my interests in science, history, construction and engineering, and computers, to tell stories in an entertaining and engaging way. I am excited to be here at Madison, and am looking forward to continuing the adventure!