“When I think of him, I will always think of the cheer he does,” Dr. Bob Donaldson, LHS principal, said with a smile. “It’s going to be a very tough position to fill, on a number of levels.” Greg Thompson, physics and chemistry teacher, chose to retire after eleven years of educating students at LHS.

Dr. Thompson plans to spend his retirement performing many different tasks. “Well, right now, I have planned a couple trips to Europe,” Dr. Thompson answered with excitement. “My daughter is pregnant, so I will be a granddad soon. I also have a lot of work to do on the farm, which will keep me busy.”

Dr. Thompson and his wife moved to the LC valley after his mother-in-law passed away. From there, Dr. Thompson decided to go back to school and earn his degree in teaching/education. He attended Lewis-Clark State College (LCSC), and soon after he started studying at Pomeroy in the summer of 1998. Hoping to further his education and pursue a new career, Dr. Thompson participated in internships between Cottonwood, Pullman and the Lewis-Clark valley.

“I became interested in teaching while my daughter was in high school,” said Dr. Thompson. “I enjoyed helping her and her friends with math, chemistry and physics.”

Dr. T, as many colleagues and students know him, performed research in biochemistry for more than twenty-five years, starting as a post-doctoral fellow and instructor at Cornell University Medical College. From there, Dr. Thompson participated in performing research at the National Institute of Mental Health as a senior staff, and finally as a senior scientist at Calgene, Inc. (now a part of Monsanto Company), an agricultural biotechnology company in Davis, Calif. At Calgene, Dr. Thompson led a project to reduce the saturated fat content of canola oil, and achieved several patents related to the subject. Why, with this unique career, would he switch? Well, to put it simply, Dr. Thompson found his passion between teaching and experimenting; exactly what a high school position as an LHS science teacher does.

“When our daughter was looking for colleges, I went down to the University of California with her,” Dr. Thompson said. “That’s when I started thinking about becoming a teacher.”

Dr. Thompson’s luck came shortly after he accepted a position at Lincoln Middle School in Clarkston for a teacher on maternity leave. An unexpected phone call-while camping-from the previous LHS principal, Jim Wilund changed his mind, however. Dr. T smiled at the thought of his memories of that day.

“My wife called me up and said that someone wanted to talk to me about a chemistry position at Lewiston High School,” Dr. Thompson said, while he reminisced back to that summer afternoon. “She said that the previous chemistry teacher had just suffered a heart attack and was going to be gone for the rest of the year.”

The job description at LHS fulfilled Dr. Thompson’s wishes as to what he wanted to be doing with his teaching- performing research and experiments. Although he only planned to substitute for the rest of the year, he soon accustomed himself to teaching at LHS. Dr. Thompson finally earned a full-time position on the Lewiston High School staff, he taught for many years with no regrets, according to Shelley Potter, LHS basic chemistry and microbiology teacher.

“It’s not easy to find a job here in the valley,” Dr. Thompson said. “There are lots of students every year graduating from LCSC, University of Idaho and Cheney (Eastern Washington University) that all have teaching degrees.”

“He loves his students very much,” Potter said. “I always see students in his class after school, and he’ll sit there patiently with each one.”

Known for his intelligence and ability to teach, Dr. Thompson carries a strong reputation. Many students come to him for help on assignments, for facts on science, and to gain more knowledge in general. He even accepted an award for his brilliance and patience a few years back.

“It’s really sad that Dr. T is retiring,” Kory Scyphers, LHS junior said. “He’s one of the smartest, most entertaining teachers I’ve ever had. I’m going to miss him, and LHS faculty is going to have a hard time replacing him.”

As he departed from his second career, he planned to take with him one honorable accomplishment. In May 2007, Dr. T received The Giant’s program award, which recognized teachers who integrated real-life applications of science and technology into their classrooms–supported by Butch Otter, governor of Idaho. Nominated by students, teachers and staff, it came as a true surprise to Dr.Thompson. “It was totally unexpected, and I didn’t know what to say at first,” Dr. T concluded.

Alex Oliver
-Reporter