Billy Thomas - Executive Director
I stepped in to Higher Ground for my first time back in 2005. Like almost everyone who comes in to Higher Ground for the first time, I was taken aback by the environment. The creativity was palpable. There were eager faces, educational games, art projects, math equations, and some guy walking around without shoes. It would be months before I realized that he was a student, and not a teacher. I wondered how such a place had thrived for so long without me having the slightest knowledge of its existence. I was happy to be a part of it.
I enjoyed tutoring at Higher Ground immensely. I would stay up late trying to figure out how to use punk rock to teach creative writing or how to show that even a drug-dealer should know how to do a linear regression. Some students and I also came up with some awful analogies to remember electron orbitals. As my role at Higher Ground slowly morphed from tutor to administrator, I was able to see how all of my co-workers were teaching their students, too.
Throughout my time at Higher Ground Learning, I’ve had the opportunity to witness some amazing things. I’ve seen students learn math concepts by eating sushi, building a skateboard ramp, and studying the nature of the bouncy ball. I’ve seen students who have never earned a grade higher than a D get A’s and B’s. I’ve seen the excited face of a student who just got his first college acceptance letter when, only 2 months earlier, it wasn’t likely that he was going to graduate from high school.
As Higher Ground continues to grow and serve a greater student population, a lot remains unchanged from the first day that I walked in. We still have an amazing group of intelligent, attentive, and diverse tutors. We still have students who come back to visit, long after they have stopped needing our help. And we’re still helping every student who comes through our doors achieve whatever goals he or she can fathom. That is something this entire organization is very proud of.
But I digress. If you have read this far, you must really want to know about me. I studied at the University of Utah, where I received a degree in Philosophy and another in Psychology. I have taught math, chemistry, English, reading, writing, SAT, ACT, GMAT, and journalism. I like pretty much everything. Chris Rock once said that “you are never going to meet someone who likes Seinfeld and the Wu-Tang Clan as much as you,” although I probably quote both daily. I’m equally comfortable watching football or ballet, and I get really excited when I can go snowboarding and swimming in the same day. I have a one-eyed Pug named Pirate and I read A Confederacy of Dunces at least once per year.
As a little kid, I practiced basketball everyday so that I could play in the NBA. I never did make it, but I have a pretty great job. Higher Ground is nothing without the people who work here, and I thank every person – past, present, and future – who has contributed a part of themselves to make Higher Ground the great place that it is today.
I enjoyed tutoring at Higher Ground immensely. I would stay up late trying to figure out how to use punk rock to teach creative writing or how to show that even a drug-dealer should know how to do a linear regression. Some students and I also came up with some awful analogies to remember electron orbitals. As my role at Higher Ground slowly morphed from tutor to administrator, I was able to see how all of my co-workers were teaching their students, too.
Throughout my time at Higher Ground Learning, I’ve had the opportunity to witness some amazing things. I’ve seen students learn math concepts by eating sushi, building a skateboard ramp, and studying the nature of the bouncy ball. I’ve seen students who have never earned a grade higher than a D get A’s and B’s. I’ve seen the excited face of a student who just got his first college acceptance letter when, only 2 months earlier, it wasn’t likely that he was going to graduate from high school.
As Higher Ground continues to grow and serve a greater student population, a lot remains unchanged from the first day that I walked in. We still have an amazing group of intelligent, attentive, and diverse tutors. We still have students who come back to visit, long after they have stopped needing our help. And we’re still helping every student who comes through our doors achieve whatever goals he or she can fathom. That is something this entire organization is very proud of.
But I digress. If you have read this far, you must really want to know about me. I studied at the University of Utah, where I received a degree in Philosophy and another in Psychology. I have taught math, chemistry, English, reading, writing, SAT, ACT, GMAT, and journalism. I like pretty much everything. Chris Rock once said that “you are never going to meet someone who likes Seinfeld and the Wu-Tang Clan as much as you,” although I probably quote both daily. I’m equally comfortable watching football or ballet, and I get really excited when I can go snowboarding and swimming in the same day. I have a one-eyed Pug named Pirate and I read A Confederacy of Dunces at least once per year.
As a little kid, I practiced basketball everyday so that I could play in the NBA. I never did make it, but I have a pretty great job. Higher Ground is nothing without the people who work here, and I thank every person – past, present, and future – who has contributed a part of themselves to make Higher Ground the great place that it is today.
