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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A South St. Petersburg native is using his love for technology to help his old neighborhood. Deonte Thompson has been doing that in several ways.
Like so many kids, Thompson lived for sports as a young man. He played youth football and basketball for Boca Ciega High School. One day while walking through an alley on his way to the Childs Park Community Center to practice basketball, he made a life changing discovery.
“And then right here at this garbage can, there was an abandoned television," he said. ‘And I pulled it apart, and for whatever reason I pulled out the circuit board and put it up in my room because I was curious about how it worked.”
That one incident got Thompson hooked on technology. He went on to get a degree in electrical engineering. Now he’s an executive for a computer company while living in Texas.
But Thompson comes back to St. Petersburg to be a blessing to his hometown. He helped start the computer lab at the Childs Park Community Center through his Dream Faith Foundation. Students can use the lab to do homework and class projects. Adults can use it for things including job searches.
“Regardless of what field you go into, you are going to be touched by technology, so we don’t want students to be left behind,” he said.
Thompson has branded his local efforts “St. Pete Strong.” He holds conferences in St. Petersburg and other parts of the country to help give young people the skills they need to succeed.
He also comes back to St. Pete regularly to work with the new robotics club at Gibbs High School. The club built a four-wheeled robotic vehicle.
“Community is so important,” said Thompson. “It is something I wish I had, and I want to continue for the community.”
The team’s robot recently won a judge’s choice award in Tallahassee.
“It makes me extremely excited because they had a short amount of time to rally together to work as a team, to create something that didn’t exist before,” he said.
