Christian Education

Please Welcome Our New Family Life Coordinator

Janice Thompson

When I was born, my 2 year-old brother excitedly welcomed me to our small suburban “grandma house” near Harrisburg, PA where alleys ran behind the houses with many neighborhood playmates. I took ballet and played the cello, while my brother climbed trees and drew pictures. Because my mom permitted us an array of pets, when we moved to a farm, we simply continued adding species. Although I missed my former friends, I loved attending our country church’s Sunday School where I made new ones. My work life began in high school waitressing on the weekends and has included hostessing/cashiering in restaurants; working as a legal secretary/legal assistant/word processor in law firms as well as the federal government; working in academic administration; and finally, teaching/tutoring English as a Second Language (“ESL”) to international students and immigrants at the UD’s English Language Institute and in Spain. One summer, being between jobs, I hostessed at a Dewey Beach restaurant where I met Jerry “Crabmeat” Thompson, a talented musician/teacher/writer. When I moved to Middletown to become Mrs. Crabmeat (a/k/a Ms. Crabcake), Crabmeat urged me to return to school and earn my BA in English – we both studied abroad in Ireland! For over 26+ years, Crabmeat and I shared an interesting and adventuresome life of learning, traveling, doing his children’s gigs, and teaching ESL.