Glenn Thompson: “Over the past couple of weeks I had the honor of visiting three high schools in my district, the Richland High School…”

“Over the past couple of weeks I had the honor of visiting three high schools in my district, the Richland High School, near Johnstown, Cambria Heights High School, in Patton, and Purchase Line High School in Commodore, Pennsylvania. As a senior member of the House Education and Labor Committee, I love speaking with students about their learning experiences, and hearing from faculty and staff as well. Last week, the Richland School District invited me to join them for their Teacher-in-Service event with award-winning educator and principal, Salome Thomas-El. It was a pleasure to be with educators from the Cambria County area to hear the ways that we can work together to improve education in America. I enjoyed hearing Mr. Thomas-El discuss the change in attitudes and strategies of school staff, parents, and members of the community to help the students in most need of guidance. He is currently the head of the Thomas Edison Charter School in Wilmington, and before that, began his career as a teacher and chess coach at Vaux Middle School. Since then, he has published several books, received prestigious awards, appeared on television, and Disney recently optioned the movie rights to his best-selling book titled ``I Chose to Stay.'' He has committed more than 20 years of his life to answering the question of how to ensure that every child achieves their greatest potential.…”