Ms. Thompson is a new teacher at West Lauderdale this year filling the Algebra II post. Since this is her first year here, there are a lot of things the students of West Lauderdale may not know about her. As a student at West Lauderdale, she played softball and basketball before graduating in 2017. She went on to study at Meridian Community College for a year before completing college at William Carey University. She continued to play basketball in college after receiving a scholarship for it. She worked at Neshoba Central High School for two years before returning to West Lauderdale.
Ms. Thompson says she became a teacher because she “enjoyed tutoring for trig and calculus in college.” Also, she says the thing that comes easiest to her as a teacher is the math content and thoroughly understanding it so she can teach it well. Ms. Thompson thinks the most rewarding thing about her job is “getting to build relationships with students and getting to talk to them and know them.”
Ms. Thompson says a challenge she faced while becoming a teacher was “time management,” and to overcome this she “prioritized things that are more important.” When asked what traits she has that she would like to pass on to her students, she responded, “I would consider myself hard-working, and I think I am compassionate. I hope my students can have those skills, too.” Ms. Thompson says the best piece of advice she has ever received is to “have correct priorities.” In addition to this, she would like to tell her students who would like to pursue a teaching career “be prepared and have a good attitude.” One life lesson Ms. Thompson has learned while becoming a teacher is to “always be patient.”
Ms. Thompson says her most significant achievements are “when I graduated college and my walk with Christ.” However, she still has not checked everything off her list of goals. Some specific things Ms. Thompson still wants to achieve are riding in rodeos and making math class more enjoyable for her students. When asked, “What is something that people assume about you that isn’t true?” Ms. Thompson replied, “Some people might think I’m mean because of my facial expressions, and also some people might think I am quiet, but I am not that quiet once you get to know me.” Ms. Thompson is excited to come back to West Lauderdale, and we are excited to have her!
