Thompson Retires From District After 23 Years

Patricia Thompson retired from the Crawford County R-1 School District at the end of June, bringing an end to a 29-year career in education that included 23 at Bourbon.

Thompson spoke with the Independent News in her final week on the job. After climbing the ladder from Title I paraprofessional to Title I teacher to elementary school principal and finally superintendent, she said she intends to spend time catching up her with parents, grandchildren and husband.

“I need to be home more,” said Thompson, who joined the Bourbon district as a Title I teacher in 1996. 

She credited her husband, Steve, for standing by throughout the years as she put in long hours and for encouraging her to apply for the superintendent position in 2010.

The position opened after Dr. Thomas Sharp announced he was leaving the district following the 2009-2010 year. The district was burning through superintendents, with none staying on for more than a few years at a time.

After learning that Sharp was leaving, Thompson recalled standing outside with her husband and sharing her concerns for the future of the district. She felt the location on Interstate 44 could turn Bourbon into a training ground for superintendents.

“It’s so hard to keep the momentum of us moving forward when there is a continuous change of leadership,” Thompson said.

Her husband suggested she seek the job.

“He said, ‘maybe this time around you should apply for it,’” she said. “I didn’t expect him to say that.”

Thompson said she told her husband that would be working longer hours year-round, but he was okay with it.

During her interview with the school board, she conveyed how regardless of which direction they went in, she was happy in her role as elementary principal.

“Put me wherever you feel is best,” she recalled telling board members.

The board selected her to lead the district and she remained committed to Bourbon the last nine years.

Opportunities were out there through the years, but Thompson said she had a hard time envisioning being anywhere other than Bourbon. She would talk to her father when other positions would come open, but he told her if it wasn’t broke, “don’t fix it.”

“I just really felt this is where I should be,” Thompson said. 

Thompson never out on the career education path. She was originally a stay at-home mother and she earned degrees in office automation and medical secretarial certification only after her son started attending all-day school.

She was approached at church by the Title I director at Owensville who asked if she would be interested in teaching remedial math and reading. Thompson landed the job and juggled working as a paraprofessional with obtaining her degree in elementary education.

Once she got started as a teacher, she knew she wanted it as a career. 

Thompson waited for openings at Owensville, but they never came. 

“There wasn’t much turnover,” she said. “There were teachers there who I had as teachers. They were staying in the district and there just not any openings.”

Willing to travel, Thompson then landed on Bourbon. She said she had a great interview with then-BES principal Teri Alsadi. They hit it off and Thompson took the position of Title I teacher. But before they could ever establish a working relationship, Alsadi moved on to become a principal in Washington.

The job of principal would come open again just a couple years later and Thompson said a former board member reached out to her and suggested she apply.

“I applied, they offered it to me and I loved it,” she said. “I had a really close group of dedication professionals that I had the opportunity to be a part of at the elementary school. It was really a blessing.”

Thompson said she was proud of how dedicated the staff was, especially in establishing Bourbon as the hub of a reading recovery consortium.

“It served the needs for staff, students and those throughout the south central region,” she said. “We were the training hub for area teachers in reading recovery. The support was provided to the teachers, which in turn impacted students throughout the region.”

One of the district’s biggest accomplishments during her tenure as superintendent was bringing in a school-based therapist.

“I really became a strong advocate for getting more resources for our families,” she said, noting the disparity that existed between the need of students and their availability of mental health services. “We were the first district in the region to have that therapist.”

Thompson’s final day was June 28 and she said she choked up thinking about taking a final walk-through of the buildings. 

She said she was going to miss the students, staff and community members who had been supportive every step of the way.

“To be able to be part of the education experience, it’s so rewarding,” she said. “It’s so rewarding to see first hand the learning that takes place in the classroom and the changes in the students through the years. To see children come through the door for their first day of kindergarten and the same students walk across the stage to get their diploma, I’ll treasure those memories forever.”

Thompson said other than being with her family, she wasn’t sure what her next niche in life would be yet.

“Once it takes place, I’ll settle in and find it,” she said. “I’m just waiting for life to unfold after year after year of planning.”

Thompson, who used to tell her mother that she would have 100 kids, said she surpassed it.

“I had thousands of kids,” she said.