Find Your People, Never Stop Learning
Mary Thompson was nominated by a mentor who guided her through her Family and Consumer Sciences National Board certification in 2007. The nominator said, “Since achieving her National Board Certification, she has been a teacher leader in her district mentoring many through their process. She also has served as a trainer for the Careers in Education Program and worked on committees with CSTP.”
Mary currently works at Heritage High School in Vancouver, Washington.
Why did you decide to become Nationally Board Certified?
I chose to certify at year 22 in my career. I just needed it. I felt like I was dead in the water. I was ready for a challenge and it was either do my NBCT or look at a doctorate program and I decided that I would be an NBCT [Nationally Board Certified Teacher]. The time commitment was large. In the big picture it made more sense to me. The other thing I was drawn to was that it was an opportunity to focus on my students and my practices and impact my world. Our district has quite a few people that were certified. We’ve had a pretty thriving NBCT cohort group.
What was the process like for you?
It was definitely busy. I also intentionally chose to do it once my kids went to college. So I started it when my youngest went to college. I had the time. Which made a huge difference. It was intense. It was revealing. The thing that I really liked about it was that cohort group. That became my PLC [Professional Learning Community] along with my other two PLCs . . . but, that was a real support system. The ability to throw something out there and have a professional conversation was enriching. I think more than anything, I would throw things out that I would do. It would either affirm what I was doing, that I was going down the right path, or showed me where I needed to pick up my game. It helped me take a look at what I was doing and really assess. Is this getting what I want from my students? Is this method or strategy really getting meeting the needs of your kids?
My cohort and I have had breakfast once per month for ten years. In our district, I oversee the cohorts and we work hard to NOT have same content areas together because a lot of times when you have all general education teachers together, all music teachers for example, they all speak the same language. We believe if you have other people from different lenses looking at your work and you continue to use the language, people outside say “what is this?” It helps with clarity.
What have you learned from this process, and what have you utilized in the classroom?
I have been involved with the Careers in Education program since 2005, and I have been able to work with CSTEP and the Professional Educator Standards Board on a curriculum to attract bilingual teachers in our state into the teaching rank. My focus has gone from my classroom to my school. The one thing I utilize the most, and still continue to utilize the most, is the importance of building the relationships with kids to determine how best to serve them. That’s part of it. It’s part of the reflective piece that I grab on to. I try to be very reflective in what I do because now that my focus is bigger, I need to know kids so that they can make choices for their life after school.
I work in a high poverty school, and I have one student that is a college-bound kid. And he doesn’t have the confidence to move forward. He’s kind of stuck. In September our dance instructor came to me and said, “he’s an amazing dancer and he needs to do something after high school. He needs to go to Cornish.” I called him in and talked to him. It was a struggle, but we got to the point where he now has enough trust in me, he filled out his FAFSA. I got him to the point, and now he’s signing up for his SATs. We are making these little steps. Once we sign up for his SATs, then we will look at an application. He’s a kid that I lob the information to, and then I let him react, then we meet again, then we work through it more. It’s slow, but we are making progress. I have quite a few kids that are in the same boat. It may be cultural or because some of my kids experience poverty, but it’s the reality. I need them to take a serious look and ask themselves, “what you are doing on June 10?”
What do you love about teaching in your school?
I feel like I am surrounded by incredible professionals. I feel blessed to surround myself with the people that care about kids, that are working to ensure they are giving kids the best they have so they can achieve in whatever they decide after school.
What advice can you give other Washington educators?
Biggest things: I was fortunate a year ago to teach a teachers prep-class for students who are ready to student-teach. Find your people. Find your tribe. Make sure that you surround yourself with people that love this profession. It’s such a hard job. It is draining. It’s difficult. I worked in private industry, this is just so different. Night and day. There’s days where you feel like you are herding cats, and that’s okay. Just take a breath, go with the flow.
Brand new teachers: don’t be afraid to ask for help. Know your kids well. Because if you take the time at the beginning to get to know your kids, so many things will fall into place. You can have crappy a lesson, it just isn’t clicking. You can say, “this is awful, I am not liking this, we needs to start over.” Have the grace and relationships with your students do that, to be flexible. New teachers think they have to know everything. I’ve been 32 years in this job and there so many things for me to learn.
What do you love about education in Washington?
The support that we get [family consumer science teachers]. There are a lot of states that don’t value that. Washington values this and CTE! I love that we have a superintendent that also sees the value of it. In the past it has been seen as an add-on, an extra. It’s shifting and I like it.
My students, we call them “completers,” [students who have completed four courses in a unit of study, e.g. four classes in Agriculture]. We honor those kids, they get chords. When you look at statistics, typically about 97 percent of completers in my school have continued on to a 2-year school, 4-year school, technical school or apprenticeship program. The risk-taking alone, for trying something and seeing if it works, like in small engines is an invaluable lesson. These schools that can offer a variety of CTE courses have students that are more prepared for work.
