Spotlight: Tommy Tompkins

Emma Hofer

Tommy Tompkins. After hearing this name, you may immediately be reminded of class periods spent dissecting sentences (LINKS), pouring over the abominable seven or the terrible twenty-three (The Lively Art of Writing), or analyzing Shakespeare. But you may not also realize the immense impact he has made on our school. Besides being the drill-sergeant of the English language, Mr. John Tompkins, or Tommy, as he is adoringly referred to by most all students, is the chief archiver of Dalat's past and present as the journalism 1 and 2 teacher. For the past thirty years—or for more than half of the time that Dalat has been in existence—he has helped hundreds of students.

Tommy Tompkins grew up as a missionary kid whose family served in Thailand. He boarded at Dalat School in Da'lat, Vietnam until his second grade year, when the school was evacuated by the American embassy because the fighting became too dangerous. He completed his primary and secondary education at Dalat, living on both the Thailand and Cameron Highland campuses. After attending Wheaton College in Illinois, and teaching in Florida for a few years, Tommy moved back to Dalat to work as a teacher.

Since then, Tommy has been the adviser for the Reflector yearbook, which has received multiple accolades from Columbia University, and Eagle’s Eye. He has also taught sophomore, junior, and senior English and is a friend to many.

"I remember how years ago, when Dalat had its own church, Tommy would always take students out to lunch on his motorbike afterwards," said Aunt Jan Hogan. "It was always special for students to go out and talk with him, because he really cared."

Even today, any alumni who visits the school will immediately request to visit Tommy.

"We call him Mr. Dalat," said Mr. Larry Chinn, the alumni association coordinator. "He takes every long weekend and vacation to travel and visit alumni, bringing memories, heartfelt stories, and laughter wherever he goes."

In addition to documenting years past by archiving yearbooks and school programs, Tommy has records of each and every Eagle's Eye, a quarterly newspaper, which is now being renamed The Senior Scribble, a weekly journalistic blog.

"By always making an effort to take programs from our concerts and graduations, and by maintaining his relationships and connections with students, he has a whole accumulation of our history, which he documents in yearbooks and Eagles Eye," said Mr. Chinn. "We learn from our past, and Tommy is the provider of that."