WVCSD Superintendent Spotlight: Bleek Thompson

This week, as part of the school district’s Superintendent Spotlight series, Warwick Valley Middle School sixth-grader Bleek Thompson was highlighted for his “community-mindedness and enthusiasm for volunteerism.” This year he was elected vice president of the middle school’s Student Senate. The school district talked to the perennial Honor Roll student about his history of helping, some of the current events on his calendar, and his pursuits as a writer and content creator.

“I’ve been in WVCSD since kindergarten, so I’ve been here for seven years and I’ve been helping people out since day one,” said Thompson, who has offered a helping hand on everything from friends’ assignments to teachers’ tech issues.

“So one time I had a teacher whose smart board wasn’t working. I knew how to fix it, so I did. This year I’m helping out a lot with peer editing, like on papers and things like that. I love writing, so that’s a lot of fun. I don’t know, I just like to help when I can,” Thompson said with a shrug.

Thompson first got into volunteering at his church and during his fourth-grade year at Park Avenue Elementary.

“I’ve been volunteering at my church since the first or second grade,” he said. “Right now, I help in a teen program called Chosen. Basically, what I do is every month I get up on stage and speak about the reasons and ways [young people] can give offerings of money, time and talents, and why that’s important.”

Thompson joined the Volunteer Club at Park Avenue in fourth grade. The club not only afforded him more of the types of opportunities he loves, but also piqued his interest in student governance, and he realized that when he got to the middle school he wanted to explore Student Senate.

This year, the WVMS Student Senate has been instrumental in planning and pulling off Pink Out Day, which came at the end of Red Ribbon Week in October. Next up for the senate is their role in the annual WTBQ Toys for Military Tots Toy Drive, which kicks off on November 20 and ends on December 6. Thompson and his fellow Student Senate members will be handling the promotion and execution of the drive at the middle school. They will even make a radio station appearance for a message and photo op. Senate members will be setting up donation boxes at the school and promoting the toy drive on the morning announcements.

“The toys we collect will get added to the bigger pile for the district and then taken to the radio station,” said Thompson. “The toys all go to local children who are in military families. If we collect enough donations, the whole school gets to have a pajama day!”

In his spare time, Thompson loves to write and create content. His YouTube channel, RedTheYeep (@redsuschannel), has more than 25,000 followers. Thompson said he likes to keep his channel rated G.

Thompson is also a writer. His influences include authors RJ Palacio, who wrote “Wonder,” and Gordon Korman and his book “The Unteachables.” He enjoys the science fiction and fantasy genres, and he wrote a sci-fi influenced book two years ago with one of his peers, Fiona Contino.

“We’re actually working on getting our original book published! It’s a sci-fi story where this kid and his friends find a different dimension,” said Thompson. “The kid’s dad follows them into the dimension and he gets stuck there until the sequel. I’m working on the sequel now!”

Thompson sees his future in student governance and community service continuing to grow in seventh and eighth grade, and is definitely looking forward to continuing along that path when he gets to the high school. As for younger students who may have an interest in volunteerism and community service, Thompson encourages them to look into Student Senate... with one caveat.

“Just as long as they don’t want to be VP this year,” he laughed, “because this is fun and I’m not ready to retire yet!”