Project: Hampton

This project is lovingly named after Mr. Tom Hampton, my 5th grade teacher at Cleveland Elementary School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He holds a special place in my heart as not only the first positive male role model I ever had, but also as the teacher who truly saw me. Mr. Hampton was the first educator who understood that I needed to learn at my own pace—he let me soar when I was ready to run, and gently encouraged me when I struggled to find my footing.

What made him extraordinary wasn't just his kindness and unwavering support, but the way he genuinely invested himself in every single student who walked through his classroom door. He had this remarkable gift for seeing the potential in each of us and nurturing it until we could see it in ourselves. He didn't just teach us lessons from textbooks; he taught us to believe we could become the best versions of ourselves.

The true measure of his impact became clear many years later when I unexpectedly ran into him at a local pub. Without missing a beat, he remembered me—not just my name, but who I was as a person. As we caught up over the beer he insisted on buying, I realized that the caring teacher who had changed my life in 5th grade was still the same warm, generous soul who remembered a student decades later.

This project carries his name because his influence carries forward in everything I do.