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Originally from Lincoln County, Thompson graduated from high school and married her sweetheart before spending 20 years traveling with her husband during his Air Force service. When he retired, they returned home, ready for the next chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a new season ahead, Thompson initially explored real estate. But her family saw her true calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy oldest daughter and my husband got to thinking, and they said I needed to be a teacher. While I hadn\u2019t thought much about it, I did love being at school,\u201d said Thompson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She enrolled at Athens State and embraced the journey of earning her degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I finished and got my degree, I went around every day and bothered people to get a job,\u201d she explained fondly. \u201cGreg Holder, who hired me, said he had to hire me to get me to leave him alone. I knew I was to be a teacher. It was something Jesus gave me. I wanted to make a difference in little people’s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Greg Holder, then principal of South Lincoln School, hired her as a third grade teacher. From the start, Thompson loved the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI’ve loved being a teacher,\u201d she said. \u201cI didn’t become a teacher until I was 44. I taught third grade first, and it was wonderful. Then, I was going to go to first grade, and I had the room painted and everything. Greg Holder came down to where I was setting up my room before school started. He asked if I was interested in teaching kindergarten as he had an opening. Having just painted the room, I asked if I could think about it. He no longer gave me the OK and started walking out, and I told him I would do it. I was a quick sale. He knew I’d always wanted to be with the little ones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now retired, Thompson reflects on the years she spent shaping young minds. As she flips through her collection of classroom keepsakes, she proudly holds up a picture of a bunch of grapes \u2014 each \u201cgrape\u201d a student\u2019s photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen they graduate, I take a picture of their bunch of grapes and give it to them,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cMost of them remember the grapes and were very excited to get theirs. There was never a time I did not want to go to school. I loved being a teacher. And I loved just trying to plant little seeds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And planting seeds is exactly what she did \u2014 especially seeds of kindness. More than anything, Thompson wanted her students to leave her classroom with compassion for others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat was my main thing: that we had to care for one another,\u201d added Thompson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among her keepsakes is a paper cutout with a Helen Keller quote that her students would read aloud each day:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEvery day, in every way, I will show kindness to others. I am only one, but I am still one. I cannot do everything, but I can still do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She also gave them kindness assignments to complete outside the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey had to show kindness to some- body, like their bus driver, the mailman, or someone at Walmart,\u201d Thompson explained. \u201cEven if it was just a smile, it might be the only smile they get, and it could change their world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In her retirement, Thompson stays busy visiting local retirement homes with her daughter and cherishing time with her grandchildren. She also keeps in touch with many of her former students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI stay in contact with several of my former students,\u201d she said excitedly. \u201cOne is my neighbor, and others I see in town and at different things. I love for them to share their memories of school with me. They are always welcome to come up to me and say hello. Each of my students brought me so much joy and continues to do so.\u201d GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A TEACHER\u2019S IMPACT doesn\u2019t end when the school year does \u2014 or even when they stop teaching. The support, encouragement, and belief they show their students can last a lifetime. A lesson shared or a kind word offered might help someone face a tough decision, chase a dream, or find the confidence to believe in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":24550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/fayetteville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/10\/5-1024x683.png\")
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