ATPE Names Stinson First Grade Teacher 'State Educator of Year'

April 4, 2005

Plano ISD veteran early childhood educator Debbie Thompson captured the Texas Elementary Educator of the Year title awarded by the Association for Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) at the association’s annual state conference held last weekend in Austin. Several PISD staff members were also honored at the local and regional levels with ATPE awards.

• State Educator of the Year
• Local and Regional Educators of the Year

State Educator of the Year

With a membership of 105,000 educators across the state, ATPE crowned Ms. Thompson the reigning elementary teacher of the year during an April 1 awards banquet attended by nearly 1,000 ATPE members at the Austin Convention Center.

“I have been a teacher for almost half of my life and I am thankful every day that I work in a profession I love and also have the opportunity to impact the lives of the children I welcome into my classroom each day,” said the Stinson Elementary School first grade teacher.

“Children of this age are so eager to learn and so willing to trust. My goal is to have them so excited about learning they can’t wait to come to school each morning. As they leave at the end of the year, you can hear them say, ‘We were the best class Mrs. Thompson ever had.’... I believe every year is the ‘best.’”

Ms. Thompson joined Plano ISD in 1984, following a two-year stint as kindergarten team leader at the Dhahran Academy in Saudi Arabia, while her husband was on military duty. She served as kindergarten team leader at Mendenhall Elementary School through 2000, prior to opening Stinson as first grade team leader.

A leader among her peers, she worked for five years as a member of the PISD Kindergarten Integrated Curriculum Design Team, and conducted hundreds of hours of training for district employees on technology, classroom management and guided reading and writing. She assisted in development of the advanced placement test for district kindergarten students and serves as a district trainer for CGI (Cognitively Guided Instruction - math).

At Stinson, Ms. Thompson has co-chaired the writing vertical team, served as a member of the school based improvement committee and has supervised numerous student teachers.

A technology forerunner, Ms. Thompson assisted in planning and conducting sessions at the Technology Summit for Education held at the University of North Texas (UNT). She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Eastern New Mexico University, kindergarten certification from the University of Texas at Tyler, and a master’s degree in early childhood education (prek-2) and gifted certification from UNT.

Debbie's Teaching Philosophy / Resume (15k)

Local and Regional Educators of the Year

Several Plano ISD educators earned accolades from the Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) at the local, regional and state levels in the association’s 2004-05 educator of the year program. Two of the Plano educators advanced as state finalists in the annual competition.

Debbie Thompson, Stinson Elementary School first grade team leader, was recognized as one of three finalists for ATPE State Elementary Educator of the Year, and Ken Eckler, Shepton High School special education aide, earned recognition as a finalist for ATPE State Associate of the Year. Both educators were honored at the local and regional levels. Mr. Eckler, who also serves as Plano ATPE treasurer, was recognized for his dedication during a campus event at which Kathy King, principal, presented him with a “memorial” rocking chair to be engraved with a plaque in his honor and kept in the inclusion classroom where he is an aide.

ATPE award winners include (l-r) Ken Eckler, Shepton High School special education aide and Plano ATPE treasurer, who won Plano and Region 10 Associate of the Year; Carol Deviney, Murphy Middle School librarian, who was recognized as Plano and Region 10 ATPE Special Services/Professional Support Educator of the Year; and Plano ATPE Scholarship Recipients Shayla Kimpton, Jennifer Burnes and Susie Orellana.

Also honored were three staff members from Murphy Middle School: Bonnie Manley, principal, was named ATPE Administrator of the Year; Carol Deviney, Murphy Middle School librarian, was recognized as Plano and Region 10 ATPE Special Services/Professional Support Educator of the Year; and Brent Truitt, teacher, who was named ATPE Secondary Teacher of the Year.

Region 10 ATPE Scholarships were presented this year to Shayla Kimpton, Forman Elementary - associate scholarship; Jennifer Burnes, Schimelpfenig Middle School - professional scholarship; and Susie Orellana, Armstrong Middle School - student scholarship.

Related Link

• State ATPE

Stinson Elementary School's Debbie Thompson (center), first grade team leader and State Elementary Educator of the Year, is congratulated by Glenda Ross (left), ATPE Campus Representative for Stinson and Plano ATPE Co-Elementary Teacher of the Year 2003-04, and Patti Smith, Plano ATPE Co-Elementary Teacher of the Year and State Finalist 2003-04.