For Whitewater principal on a mission, life’s too short to go slow

Beth Thompson barely looks old enough to be a teacher, let alone a principal with 21 years in education to her name.

She has a bubbly personality that dates back to her days as a cheerleader, and she talks so fast you suspect she’s loaded up on caffeine. But Thompson, who was named Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ 2016 principal of the year on Wednesday, says moving fast is just her way of keeping spirits high. “Life’s too short to go super slowly,” the Whitewater Middle School principal said after being surprised with the award.

As she speed-walks through her days, grinning at the goofy things middle-schoolers say, Thompson carries a weighty mission: “I am driven by alleviating poverty, ultimately for the reconciliation of the world.”

A Presbyterian minister’s daughter from Richmond, Va., Thompson wavered between ministry and education. After hearing someone say you don’t have to be a minister to serve others, she took the route she has loved since she was a girl buying lesson planners with her allowance.

At Davidson College she did her student teaching at Alexander Graham Middle School, where Ann Clark was principal. Clark, now superintendent, noted the longstanding connection when she presented Thompson the award. Clark said that when Thompson returned as an employee, she taught Latin, archeology, Spanish and chorus.

Thompson became principal of Whitewater Academy elementary school in 2010, then moved next door to Whitewater Middle in 2014. When she arrived, she recalls, “folks were angry with each other.” Parents were suspicious of faculty and dissatisfied with the school. Teachers fled during the transition. Thompson says her biggest achievement has been reconciliation – helping parents and teachers feel good about each other and their school.

Whitewater Middle, where poverty levels are high, is part of the CMS Beacon Initiative, which pushes for improvement at schools where performance seems stalled at low levels. The students have seen gains on test scores over the last two years, and Whitewater has gotten off the state’s low-performing list.

Clark says Thompson is known in principals’ meetings as the person who will ask tough questions “in a way that’s respectful, but has a little push.” She considers herself a mentor to Thompson, but says she learns from her as well.

“She has never hit a hill that she isn’t willing to climb,” Clark said. “Any time you’re with Beth, you’re just energized.”

Thompson, 42, has two sons with her husband, Lee: Ben is a sixth-grader at Piedmont Middle School and Sam is in second grade at Shamrock Gardens Elementary. Wednesday was an early-release day for CMS, and district officials sneaked them in – along with news media and central-office brass – under cover of the hullabaloo surrounding a Verizon donation of iPads that students can take home.

Thompson seemed eager to refocus on that when the ceremony was done. “To our duty boats!” she called to her cheering teachers.

This story was originally published October 12, 2016 at 6:33 PM with the headline "For Whitewater principal on a mission, life’s too short to go slow."