“I like how much I grew because I was constantly being challenged, my thinking and my maturity was always being tested and I was always growing. And it was really fun to master different ways of teaching and different books to teach,” English teacher Kim Thompson said.

Thompson has been teaching for over 20 years. She teaches English 10 and AP Literature and Composition. In her free time, she is an avid writer and painter. After the school year ends, she will retire.

While not everyone knows what they want to be when they are young, Thompson knew she was going to be a teacher. As a student, she observed teachers and drew from those she liked. Years of watching other teachers has influenced her teaching.  

“I knew I wanted to teach since I was a little girl,” Thompson explained. “I spent most of my education watching teachers and deciding what I wanted to emulate.”  

In Thompson’s class, students do traditional English classwork like reading books and writing essays. Students also get to be more expressive and creative with poetry circles, telling personal narratives and yoga. The different ways of learning presented by Thompson reflect her personality and style.

Senior Maddie Heinz explained, “Thompson encourages students to express themselves and to enjoy learning. She also lets students have fun learning while making class engaging.”

English teacher Corey Quick added, “Ms.Thompson has her priorities clearly defined and that’s she seems to live her life and educated her students in accordance with those priorities.”

Colleagues of Thompson think highly of her as she continues to push everyone around her. She not only challenges students, but teachers as well to further their thinking.

Quick explained, “Ms. Thompson has shown me how to be a more compassionate, relationship-centered teacher. She challenged me to think not only about the actions I want to take, but how those actions will make others such as students, teachers and parents feel.”

Many former students of Thompson and her colleagues would describe her as easygoing, but also a teacher that stimulates conversation beyond English class.

ASL teacher Becky Mazzra said Thompson is, “approachable yet certainly challenges students” to go above what they think they know.

“I’ll miss all of the heartfelt conversations between teachers and old students and students that want to know me and students who are willing to hang out and chat,” Thompson said.