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Carrollton to name school for educator - District's 1st female principal to be honoredHide Details
Dallas Morning News, The (TX) (Published as The Dallas Morning News) - June 25, 1995Browse Issues
Author/Byline: Marice Richter, Staff Writer of The Dallas Morning NewsEdition: HOME FINALSection: SPECIALPage: 2RReadability: 8-12 grade level (Lexile: 1100)
After six decades of affiliation with the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district, June Rhoton Thompson's name is familiar to thousands of area residents.

A recent move by the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district will make her name familiar to youngsters for generations to come. Future students may never meet Mrs. Thompson, 68, but they will attend the Carrollton elementary school named in her honor.

A few weeks ago, the school board voted to rename Woodlake Elementary as June Rhoton Thompson Elementary. It was a fitting move, school district officials say, because Mrs. Thompson was the first principal of the school that opened in 1973, and she also was the district's first female principal.

But her affiliation and contributions to the district go far beyond the principal's post. A native of Carrollton, she attended Carrollton Elementary and graduated from Carrollton High School in 1943.

She has been a teacher, administrator and principal in the district, and her four children are graduates of the school system. After retiring, she served six years on the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school board, ending her service in 1994.

"This was a well-deserved honor for her and one of the most appropriate things we've ever done," said Don Sheffield, who retired from the board earlier this month after 31 years, including 23 as president. "We talked about doing it in the past but decided to wait until she retired from the board.

"I'm proud to say that getting this done was one of my last acts as president."

Mrs. Thompson said she was surprised by the gesture.

"I had no idea this was happening" she said. "But, of course, I am very honored."

Carrollton and Farmers Branch were small towns when Mrs. Thompson was growing up in the 1930s. Her parents were divorced, and she and her mother lived with Mrs. Thompson's grandparents, who operated a dry goods store and funeral home in downtown Carrollton. Rhoton Funeral Home is still in business, but her family sold it long ago. Her grandfather, J.T. Rhoton, was Carrollton's second mayor.

Her mother taught expression, a forerunner of speech, part time at Carrollton High School, and as a youth Mrs. Thompson became interested in teaching. After graduating from high school, she attended college for a couple of years, locally and in Arizona where her mother had moved after remarrying.

She married not long after the end of World War II and started a family. Although she told her husband, J.W. Thompson, she intended to finish school some day, that plan was delayed as babies kept coming.

Mr. Thompson served on the district's school board for several years in the 1950s and developed a friendship with R.L. Turner, then superintendent of schools. It was Mr. Turner who persuaded her to go back to school.

"By this point, it had been years since I had been in school and was reluctant to go back," she said. "But Mr. Turner talked me into taking an extension class . . . and I made an A."

Before long, she was back in college. In the spring of 1958, she earned a bachelor's degree from what is now the University of North Texas. And that fall, she started teaching at her alma mater, Carrollton Elementary.

Five years later, she became an instructional supervisor for elementary education, a position she held until being named principal of Woodlake Elementary in 1973.

Along the way, she earned two master's degrees - one from the University of Texas at Dallas and another from Southern Methodist University - and moved from Carrollton to Farmers Branch.

During her 10 years as principal of Woodlake, Mrs. Thompson placed emphasis on developing quality fine arts programs. She arranged for guest artists from Dallas theater companies to visit the school, and she insisted that every student participate in some type of performing arts production - a musical show, concert or play - every year.

"I knew this would be an experience that these children would remember all their lives," she said. "I felt it was important to their personal growth and development."

Mr. Sheffield said Mrs. Thompson's policy made a difference.

"You could tell just walking into Woodlake that something very special was going on there," he said. "The kids seemed ready to learn and were eager and excited to come to school."

Although she loved her job, she decided to retire in 1983. But five years later, she realized she missed the association with education and the district and decided to run for the school board. She had no opponent during her first race and overwhelmingly defeated a challenger for re-election.

"As an educator, I felt I had knowledge and experience to bring to the board," she said. "Several friends had encouraged me to run, so I decided to do it."

One accomplishment during her tenure that she is particularly proud of was naming a new school for Annie Heads Rainwater, a black woman and lifelong resident of Carrollton whose efforts on behalf of her children's education in the 1950s was a key factor in integrating the district's schools.

Although Mrs. Thompson considers herself fortunate that so many opportunities came her way over the years, her life has not been without tragedy. About 20 years ago, her youngest son, Danny, was killed in an automobile accident.

"It was the worst thing that ever happened to us as a family and me as a mother," she said. "I don't think I will ever fully get over it."

Her other three children still live in the area and two, Kirk Thompson and Sharon Thompson, are teachers in the

Carrollton-Farmers Branch district. Her son John works for the federal government in Dallas and has three children.

Kirk Thompson, who teaches English at R.L. Turner High School, held a variety of jobs before finding his way into education two years ago. But, he said, it was his mother's influence that led him to teaching.

"I wanted a job where you never get bored and you are continuing learning," he said. "Well, teaching is it. I never get bored and I learn something new everyday."

Now that she's retired from the school board, Mrs. Thompson's retains a tie to the district through the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Schools Alumni Association, which she is helping organize. She is also a member of several civic and community organizations and enjoys spending summers in Colorado with her family.

"Sometimes it's still hard for me to believe I'm retired," she said. "Time passes so quickly."

In Memoriam

• Virginia (Crockett) Maddox - Teacher
• June Rhoton Thompson - Principal