April 20, 2016
JT Thoms, Spring Distinguished Speaker
JT Thoms, Prince Avenue Christian School Class of 2006, was the Spring Quarter Christian Character Distinguished Speaker at Prince Avenue Christian School.
Thoms is the Director of Strategic Partnerships for Growing Leaders, an organization committed to building young men and women into the leaders who are the future of our world. According to his Growing Leaders profile, Thoms is “fueled by an appetite of learning from others, and his mission in life is to make a positive impact by encouraging people to become who they dream to be.”
After graduating from Prince Avenue, Thoms played baseball at Chipola Junior College before earning an Associates’ degree from the University of North Georgia, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Management from Liberty University. He worked for five years for Booster Enterprises, serving as an Experience Leader, Team Leader, and General Manager of both the Jacksonville, Florida and Phoenix, Arizona offices.
He has served as the Worship Team Leader for mission trips to Kenya and the Ukraine, and served as the PACS Mission Music Leader on his senior trip to Panama. At Prince Avenue, he played baseball and participated in several Fine Arts productions.
In accepting the invitation to speak to Prince Avenue’s middle and high school students, Thoms responded by saying “I cannot quite put to words how impactful the teachers, coaches, and leaders at Prince Avenue have been on my life. It was during my time at Prince that I discovered who I was in Christ, and I am forever grateful for the school's impact on me.”
JT encouraged students to be leaders not by simply chasing their passions for the future, but by living their passions in the present. He explained that the way to do this is to be guided in life by their values which are shaped by their relationship with God. He outlined that students should identify the specific values in their lives, include those values in their decision-making, and implement those values in their routines.
JT concluded by challenging PACS students that their lives cannot forever be in the future and that they need to live by their Godly values now.
PACS students will meet in small discussion groups to apply what was presented to them in the Distinguished Speaker Series.
JT is pictured here with PACS Head of School and the faculty members that taught him during his years as a student at PACS. “I cannot quite put to words how impactful the teachers, coaches, and leaders at Prince Avenue have been on my life.”
Pictured left to right: PACS Head of School – Seth Hathaway, Sonya Gilstrap, David Shivar, JT Thoms, Jason Myers, Billy Meeks, and LaMurl Morris.
JT Thoms, Prince Avenue Christian School Class of 2006, speaks to PACS students as the Spring Quarter Christian Character Distinguished Speaker.