Noyce Scholar Profile

Robert Thompson
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Mathematics Secondary Education
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: 9th grade Algebra and Math Navigator
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Noyce Scholar
Name of Noyce institution:
University of Northern Colorado
Current academic or teaching status:
Teaching first full year.
School and school district:
Greeley Central High School
Background:
I am a non-traditional student and spent most of the last 17 years driving a commercial truck in the oilfields in Colorado. I am married with two wonderful daughters. One is a senior at the University of Wyoming and the other is a sophomore at Roosevelt high school. Getting into the teaching profession was driven by many years of coaching youth sports.
Why do you want to teach:
I feel that teaching students is important to me because so many of our youth need people that care and believe in their future. I want to teach to be that important person in those students lives.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
On of the most memorable teaching moments for me was returning to Central this fall and having students seek me out to update me on their summer accomplishments.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
The Noyce program has given me the chance to achieve my dreams of finishing college and the financial ability to be very successful in my degree program. I have also had the great Noyce experience traveling to a conference to learn specific strategies in teach Math and Science.