Victoria Thompson is a new addition to the Upper School for Girls’ math department this year. She came to Annie Wright after a teaching job in South Carolina along with some time at Microsoft. She also bakes for fun, and her pie recently won 4th place at the state fair.

Inkwell: What made you choose Annie Wright?

Thompson: My fiance and I moved here and it was really hard to find a teaching job, obviously, in January. So I was working at Microsoft and I kind of liked it but also hated commuting 4 hours round-trip. So as soon as I knew the school year was ending, I put out my resume to a couple different places and then Jake contacted me and boom! But I remember being here and thinking everyone’s so nice and the kids were super sweet, and just having small classes and that community was so good.

Inkwell: What is an amazing experience you’ve had?

Thompson: All of my baking stuff I think is the best. I don’t do it for the money because sometimes there’s prize money but I don’t do it for the recognition I do it to make me feel good. And cooking is a big stress release for me, so I just like to do that; the awards are just icing on the cake, but it’s fun to bake and just makes me feel very accomplished. 

Inkwell: What was your entry into the WA state fair?

Thompson: It’s an apple pie with cheddar crust, so I have grated cheddar cheese and I fold it into the crust, and it sounds a little gross but it’s really good.

Inkwell: What is your favorite place you’ve been and why?

Thompson: I like Madrid because there’s a lot  to do and there’s a lot to do there that’s free, which is really nice. I don’t mind spending money when I go to attractions but I really appreciate that Madrid is a city where it’s like you can be anyone and you can have a really good experience. But in the United States, my favorite place is Disneyland for very obvious reasons, so we got our engagement pictures taken in Disneyland.

Inkwell: What is something your students don’t know about you?

Thompson: So I am horrible at ice skating. You want comedy, put me on the ice. But I’m working to get better at it, so I take ice skating lessons. I’m still not good at all, but I’m hoping that at winter time I can at least not fall over.

Inkwell: How would you characterize your teaching style?

Thompson: When I was in school, technology was just starting to become a thing. I had teachers that had projectors and used the white boards but mainly they only wanted to use paper. So back when I was in South Carolina, we didn’t have MacBooks, we had Chromebooks, which had its pluses and minuses, but it was really good gateway for kids to see how technology fits into that space. Math is traditionally a subject where everything is just paper and it’s just the teacher writing on the board. I always tried to make it where I limit my time talking and we’ll collaborate, and we’ll use technology as a hub of where we keep everything. For you all too, you’re not rummaging through your things anymore, you can just hop on Google Classroom.