Thompson — the Director of the El Dorado Promise in southern Arkansas — has seen not just a shift in the attitude of the students in her city as a result of the Promise. She has seen a shift in the attitude of the entire city, which is now awash in a college-going culture. After three failed attempts to garner support for a tax increase to benefit schools, residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of an increase to build a new high school following the announcement of El Dorado Promise in 2007.
When the Promise was announced, Thompson was an award-winning U.S. History teacher as well as the Social Studies department coordinator, the parental involvement coordinator and the student council sponsor at El Dorado High School. Those combined experiences gave her a unique insight to the varied constituents who would benefit from the Promise, so her move to Promise headquarters was a natural one in 2010.
Thompson holds a bachelor’s degree in Speech and Organizational Communication from the University of Texas in Austin, teaching credentials from Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia and a master’s degree in history from Louisiana Tech University.
She is a past president of the El Dorado Service League and the Alpha Phi chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, professional teacher’s sorority. She is a state board member of the Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund and a member of the Union County chapter of Chi Omega sorority alums.
Thompson’s committee work will be focused on the school sessions at PromiseNet 2014.
PromiseNet 2014 