Charles Thomas

Mr. Charles Thomas was born in Birmingham Alabama. He attended school in Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement, and began his first job as a newspaper reporter for "The Southern Courier" a regional newspaper based in Montgomery while still in high school. After graduating from high school, he joined the United States Marine Corps. Two years later, he was honorably discharged from the Marines as a non-commissioned officer. Mr. Thomas then went to Auburn University where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Education, with a concentration in History. He later earned a Master's degree in Administration, Curriculum and Instruction from Western Maryland College.

Mr. Thomas worked as an Administration Manager for The International Business Machines Corporation for 13 years. He left IBM and purchased a franchised business. He was the owner and operator of that business for five years before deciding to become a teacher.

He was a teacher for five years at Benjamin Stoddard and Greenbelt Middle School. He was also a teacher and Instructional and Testing Coordinator at Largo High School before becoming an Assistant Principal at Fairmont Heights High School. Two years later, Mr. Thomas was named Principal at Crossland High School.

He is the author of "Black and Blue, Profiles of Blacks in IBM" which was published in 1992, and was editor of "Thoughts in the Key of Life", a book that was written by his 7th grade students at Greenbelt Middle School.

Mr. Thomas is a member of Northminster Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C. where he has served as Sunday School teacher, Chairman of the Christian Education Committee, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and is an ordained Elder.

He has been married to his wife, Vicki for twenty four years, and they have a daughter, Charlene, who is scheduled to graduate from North Carolina State University next year.