Mosby worked as football coach, teacher before he settled in at SKHS.

Come July, Dr. Thomas Mosby will have spent three years in the South Kitsap School District.

In that time he has worked to establish the Howe Farm program, expanded the schools construction classes and brought students to Uganda, establishing relationships with Ugandan teachers and even the president.

But those accomplishments don’t speak to the wide range of positions Mosby has held before — roles that took him from Seattle to Washington State University to Sweden as a teacher, counselor and football coach.

Before coming to South Kitsap, Mosby taught special education in Seattle Public Schools and held a similar position at the Snoqualmie Valley Public Schools. He also coached wide receivers for the WSU football team, working under Mike Price and Bill Doba.

“They taught me a lot and were very supportive of my ambition,” Mosby said.

That ambition allowed him to split his time coaching a football team in Sweden while working with the sports administration department at WSU.

It was at Mount Si High School in Snoqualmie that Mosby started what he would continue in South Kitsap — an international program connecting talented computer technology students with Ugandan schools in need of computers.

“It was a very fruitful international program before that, and these guys have continued to pick up the ball and keep running,” he said.

Community volunteers, such as the Kiwanis Club, collect used computers for students to refurbish. The machines are then shipped to Uganda, and the students fly over to train Ugandan teachers and students how to use them.

This year South Kitsap High School students designed a refurbishing center and trained Ugandan workers to do the refurbishing over there.

All of these programs Mosby oversees give students hands-on experience that can be translated into work and further schooling after graduation. It’s an attitude that predates his time at South Kitsap.

“I’ve been fortunately able to expand on what was established when I arrived,” he said.

The Career and Technical Education Department had a number of programs, such as home construction and athletic medicine that were already getting students certification and college credits before leaving high school.

Mosby said this is good for the students, but also for the region which receives more experienced and educated residents.

“It’s really the vitality of our community,” he said.

In the coming years he wants to continue expanding these programs. In the 2009-10 school year he wants to have a culinary arts program that gives students a ProStart Restaurant Association Certificate.

He’s also meeting with administrators from WSU to figure out what kind of college credit students could get out of South Kitsap.

It all keeps him busy, and unfortunately away from the football field.

“There’s nothing better than being a coach if I have the time,” he said. “I can do a coach camp in the summer, but that’s about it. I miss the interaction with the kids.”