Superintendent’s Spotlight: Bleek Thompson  

Warwick Valley Middle School sixth-grader Bleek Thompson enjoys being helpful. His community-mindedness and enthusiasm for volunteerism have been evident since his earliest days in the district, and this year he was elected to the role of vice president of the middle school’s Student Senate. The station that affords him the privilege (and fun, as Bleek is quick to point out) of serving his school community. We talked to the perennial Honor Roll student about his history of helping, some of the current events on his calendar, and his pursuits as a writer and content creator. Spoiler alert: his YouTube channel has more than 25,000 followers!

“I’ve been in WVCSD since kindergarten, so I’ve been here for seven years and I’ve been helping people out since day one,” said Bleek, who has offered a helping hand on everything from friends’ assignments to teachers’ tech issues.

“So one time I had a teacher whose smart board wasn’t working. I knew how to fix it, so I did. This year I’m helping out a lot with peer editing, like on papers and things like that. I love writing, so that’s a lot of fun. I don’t know, I just like to help when I can,” Bleek said with a shrug.

Bleek first got into volunteering at his church and during his fourth-grade year at Park Avenue Elementary. At his church, Bleek often talks to the youth congregation about his own motivations and methods for giving back.

“I’ve been volunteering at my church since the first or second grade,” he said. “Right now, I help in a teen program called Chosen. Basically, what I do is every month I get up on stage and speak about the reasons and ways [young people] can give offerings of money, time and talents, and why that’s important.”

Bleek joined the Volunteer Club at Park Avenue in fourth grade. The club not only afforded him more of the types of opportunities he loves, but also piqued his interest in student governance, and he realized that when he got to the middle school he wanted to explore Student Senate. Bleek was chosen to participate in student senate this year based on a recommendation from one of his teachers, and then he decided to run for an elected position. He was chosen as the group’s vice president. 

“I was a little surprised I got elected, because there were a lot of really good candidates. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d get anything,” Bleek said about his election as vice president. “This role and the responsibility that it gives, it’s just so fun! I’m really thankful for everything [Warwick Valley] has given me, so I really enjoy being in this spot. It’s a great way to give back to the school.”

This year, the WVMS Student Senate has been instrumental in planning and pulling off Pink Out Day, which came at the end of Red Ribbon Week in October. Bleek had a key supervisory role, making sure tables were set up and kept tidy, keeping track of the donation money coming in and, perhaps most importantly, making sure there was enough ice cream for Pink Out participants.

“It was a lot of running around, but it was also a lot of fun,” Bleek said, adding that the student senate went right from Pink Out Day to organizing the annual Thanksgiving Food Drive for the Warwick Food Pantry. “So, we organize [the food drive] too. We make all the spreadsheets and make sure everybody’s donations are going to the right place. That goes until this Friday (11/15/24). And I don’t want to take all the credit, because it takes a community to do all this.”

Next up for the senate is their role in the annual WTBQ Toys for Military Tots Toy Drive, which kicks off on November 20 and ends on December 6. Bleek and his fellow student senate members will be handling the promotion and execution of the drive at the middle school. They will even making a radio station appearance for a message and photo opp. Senate members will be setting up donation boxes at the school and promoting the toy drive on the morning announcements.

“The toys we collect will get added to the bigger pile for the district and then taken to the radio station,” said Bleek. “The toys all go to local children who are in military families. If we collect enough donations, the whole school gets to have a pajama day!”

In his spare time, Bleek loves to write and create content. His YouTube channel, RedTheYeep (@redsuschannel), has more than 25,000 followers. Bleek said he likes to keep his channel rated G.

“It’s all real family friendly, all ages, it’s awesome,” he said. “My content is me playing VR games, virtual reality games, and there’s also an episode of a TV show I made with some of my friends. The show is called the Gorilla Tag Chronicles; it’s based on a VR game, too.”

Bleek is also a writer. His influences include authors RJ Palacio, who wrote Wonder, and Gordon Korman and his book The Unteachables. He enjoys the science fiction and fantasy genres, and he wrote a sci-fi influenced book two years ago with one of his peers, Fiona Contino.

“We’re actually working on getting our original book published! It’s a sci-fi story where this kid and his friends find a different dimension,” said Bleek. “The kid’s dad follows them into the dimension and he gets stuck there until the sequel. I’m working on the sequel now!”

Bleek sees his future in student governance and community service continuing to grow in seventh and eighth grade, and is definitely looking forward to continuing along that path when he gets to the high school. As for younger students who may have an interest in volunteerism and community service, Bleek definitely encourages them to look into student senate… with one caveat.

“Just as long as they don’t want to be VP this year,” he laughed, “because this is fun and I’m not ready to retire yet!”