LAHS Sports Lit Teacher Lori Thompson

By Andy McBride
Student Reporter
Los Alamos Daily Post

Sports are important in many people’s lives, whether watching or playing them. Lori Thompson loves sports so much that she even includes them in her lesson plans. Skyrocketing from Phoenix, Ariz., Thompson was raised in a small town in Michigan until she was 16.

Thompson attended a private Lutheran high school near Lansing. During Thompson’s high school career, she and her family moved to the Philippines because her parents were missionaries; her dad is a retired Lutheran Pastor. From there, Thompson graduated high school and never attended public school until she started teaching at Los Alamos High School (LAHS).

During high school, she made sure to stay active and involved in sports; playing softball, basketball and volleyball throughout her years in school.

After high school, she attended the University of Concordia in Michigan where she received her teaching degree, staying active in college playing recreational sports.

“The moment I knew I wanted to be a teacher was when I worked as a teacher’s aide in high school,” Thompson said in talking about her inspiration for her teaching career.

In 1998, Thompson was six months pregnant with her daughter when her husband accepted a position at Los Alamos National Laboratory. That is when she started her family. Before that, she taught in Lutheran schools in Texas for six years.

Thompson began working for the Los Alamos Public Schools 10 years ago. She teaches Sports Literature and other English classes and makes it fun and intriguing for students to learn.

“What do I like about the schools? That is a good question,” Thompson answered. “I love the students and the autonomy that admin gives us.”

During her free time, Thompson said she likes watching sports, spending time with her family and watching movies.

“You have to let people tell their own story; if it’s not yours to tell, don’t tell it for them,” Thompson said in speaking of an inspirational lesson she shares with folks out and about in Los Alamos.