The Runaway Train: A Metaphor of the Plight of African American Children

Dr. James M. Thompson serves as an associate minister at United Bible Way Church of Lancaster under the pastoral leadership of Pastor Dr. Kenny W. Rose since 2007. Dr. Thompson is an assistant principal of curriculum and instruction at Hand Middle School in Richland County School District One in Columbia, South Carolina He has held several positions in K-12 education since 2002. He served as a seventh grade science teacher, Advanced Placement Teacher Specialist, a science and health instructor at an alternative school, and GEAR UP Project Director. Dr. Thompson has authored and received grants that funded many school- and community-based initiatives totaling over $500,000. Among other selected honors and awards, he was named Beginning Teacher of the Year; selected as a White House Fellowship Regional Finalist; inducted into Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society; named to Who's Who Among America's Teachers; named Omega Man of the Year through the Kappa Pi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.; and a South Carolina Education Policy Fellow. Currently, he has been accepted into the Center for Executive Education Leadership's Aspiring Principals Cohort and the South Carolina Department of Education Building Instructional Capacity Cohort. Dr. Thompson has earned five (5) college degrees: a Bachelor of Science degree in biology with a minor in psychology from The University of South Carolina; a Master of Arts in Health Services Management and a Master of Business Administration from Webster University; an Educational Specialist degree in Educational Administration and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Administration with dual minors, in (1) research and statistics and (2) instructional technology from The University of Southern Mississippi.