Peninsula Borough School District
Golden Apple Award | April 4, 2016
Mr. David Thomas, Community Member
“In 2012, David Thomas, a parent of a Kenai Middle School student, approached administration and suggested that we add a MathCounts team to our school,” explained Vaughn Dosko, principal. “Not only did he suggest adding the team to our afterschool program but offered to head it up. From that day forward our program has grown in size and KMS students have been very successful in the state and national competitions. MathCounts began with a handful of kids and now we have a classroom full of kids and also fifth grade students from Mountain View Elementary arriving at KMS for math enrichment. The program meets weekly afterschool and sometimes more often when they are getting ready for a competition. Mr. Thomas has also met with kids during the summer months at the Kenai Public Library.”
Through countless hours of educating students to think differently about math, the Kenai Middle School MathCounts team has been very successful. Students who have a talent and passion for math are challenged, and meet other motivated students. Finishing first place in state competitions, the KMS team and individual competitors have also scored with numerous second place finishes. Accolades can be seen in the front display case at Kenai Middle School.
Coach David Thomas has dedicated his time to taking kids to levels of math that they would not have gotten to on their own. He has driven the KMS team all over the state to compete, including at competitions from Anchorage to Fairbanks. Additionally, he has taken students to national MathCounts competitions outside of Alaska.
KMS is a better place for the time and dedication that Mr. Thomas has invested in math students at Kenai Middle School.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education is proud to recognize Mr. David Thomas for his dedication to the students of the school district, past, present, and future.
Mr. David Thomas was nominated by Principal Vaughn Dosko, on behalf of Kenai Middle School.
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Golden Apple recipients
