Thomas,+Laura+(GA)

== =Laura Thomas= 7th grade Social Studies and Math Oconee County Middle School Watkinsville, GA

=**History:**= = =
 * Born in Cleveland, Ohio (December 16, 1964)
 * Family moved to California in 1965 then to Newport News, VA in 1972 and back to California in 1979
 * Graduated from Rio Americano High School in Sacramento, CA in 1983
 * 1983: Attended University of Georgia on a full swimming scholarship
 * While at Georgia: All-American; Academic All American; All SEC; 200 butterfly school record holder; competed in 1984 Olympic Trial; Rhodes Scholar nominee;
 * 1987: BBA Marketing Magna Cum Laude
 * After Georgia: went into sales and decided I wanted to teach....actually, I have always wanted to teach but the money is better in sales (or at least it used to be!)
 * Went back to school at Mercer University to get certified
 * 2005: MEd Instructional Technology
 * 2007: EdS Leadership and Supervision

=Special Interests:=
 * Zoe: my ten year old daughter
 * Jared: my 22 year old son (not biological but I raised him, so he's mine!!). He is a surgical technician in the Air Force and is currently deployed in Afghanistan
 * Swimming: I own and I am head coach at Swim Oconee, a year round USA swimming team . We have about 50 swimmers ranging in age from 6-18.
 * My dog Jazzmin and my cat Pinky