By Todd Finkelmeyer
Ask Jim Thompson about his connections to the School of Education, and his memories reach back well before he attended UW-Madison to earn a BS in agricultural economics in 1973.
When Thompson was in second grade, he recalls how his parents would drive about an hour from the family home in Monroe to Madison each Saturday so they could take classes in the Education Building and work toward their master’s degrees in the late 1950s.
“I’d spend my Saturdays roaming the Education Building and the Memorial Union,” says Thompson. “I have so many wonderful memories.”
More than six decades later — and after a highly successful career working for Cargill Inc. and The Mosaic Company — Thompson continues to create meaningful ties with the School of Education, most recently by funding vital scholarships in his parents’ names for future rural school leaders.
“Research shows that principals have a significant impact on teaching and learning outcomes in schools,” says Anjalé Welton, who chairs the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, and is the Rupple-Bascom Professor of Education. “We are so thankful for the ongoing support from the Thompsons and this commitment to helping rural communities.”
Prioritizing rural school leaders
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 76 percent of Wisconsin’s public school districts are classified as either town or rural — with those districts serving 41 percent of the state’s roughly 800,000 public school students.
Much like teacher shortages are garnering headlines around the nation, there also is an urgent need for qualified K-12 leaders who can guide schools as retirements, increased job demands, and evolving expectations of principals contribute to professionals leaving the field. Unfortunately, pursuing a master’s degree that prepares one to work as a principal can seem out of reach to many educators due to tuition costs and the lack of free time in already busy work schedules.
Thanks to a generous gift from Jim and his wife Georgia Thompson, up to eight new scholarships will be awarded annually — with those who are employed by rural school districts receiving priority consideration. The scholarships, worth up to $8,000 each, will help educators pursuing a master’s degree through the highly regarded Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis that, upon completion, makes one eligible to apply for a Wisconsin principal license.
Offerings in this realm include the in-person MS in educational leadership and policy analysis, with a focus on K-12 leadership, and the fully online Wisconsin Idea Principal Preparation (WIPP) program, which also leads to an MS.
These cohort-based programs can be completed in less than 15 months — starting early in one summer and wrapping up later the following summer.
Over this period, participants will continue to work full-time in their current roles while taking courses at times that accommodate their schedules — during the summers, and on evenings and weekends during the school year.
The programs address the multifaceted responsibilities that principals and other school leaders shoulder, including mentoring teachers, engaging with the community, and supporting the social and emotional needs of students and families.
Tina Salzman, a clinical professor and director of the WIPP program, says she is “thrilled to extend scholarships to aspiring educational leaders deeply committed to their rural communities.”
Salzman adds: “With so many members of Wisconsin’s next generation learning in rural schools, it’s vital that we prioritize the unique needs of these educators and students.”
Honoring a legacy of excellence
Both of Jim Thompson’s parents grew up on farms in Dane County. They each had careers as rural educators before earning master’s and doctorates from the School of Education in educational administration.
Barbara Thompson, who taught in four different one-room schools in southwest Wisconsin, ultimately served from 1973 to 1981 as the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin, becoming the first woman to be elected to that post. Glenn Thompson also became an education administrator and retired as a top official with the Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA).
Jim Thompson first decided to support the School of Education and honor his parents by starting an endowed scholarship in 2007 for a graduate student in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, which typically went to a first-year PhD candidate interested in rural education.
But wanting to see a more direct impact within rural schools, Thompson recently shifted the focus of the Barbara S. and Glen T. Thompson Graduate Award to center on students interested in becoming rural leaders through the School of Education’s principal preparation programs.
“Sometimes it’s challenging to find programs that help out smaller communities,” says Jim Thompson. “This is a way to support rural communities that were such a big part of my parents’ lives growing up.”
Over the years, the Thompsons have gone on to provide significant support for the School of Education in a range of important ways that include: establishing the Jim and Georgia Thompson Distinguished Chair in Education; funding the Barbara and Glenn Thompson Professorship in Educational Leadership; providing a lead gift to the School’s innovative Impact 2030 initiative; and giving discretionary support throughout the years to the School’s annual fund.
Jim Thompson also was a longtime member of the School of Education’s Board of Visitors, including serving as chair from 2014 to 2020.
“The work of my parents and the legacy they left really rubbed off on me,” says Thompson. “Even though I have a business background and wasn’t an educator myself, I’ve long had a passion for education, the university, and the state of Wisconsin.”
The Wisconsin Idea in action
Barbara Sramek, a clinical professor and director of the K-12 Leadership MS program, notes that the School’s principal preparation efforts are focused, in part, on gaining an understanding of not only the school context — but also that of the community.
“Our programs support the realization of the Wisconsin Idea by promoting the notion that education influences the lives of people beyond the boundaries of the classroom and campus,” says Sramek.
Such impactful efforts continue to build on Thompson’s affinity for the School of Education.
“Helping talented individuals who hold the potential to become outstanding rural school leaders is a meaningful way to honor the legacy of my parents,” says Thompson. “It’s a way of giving back that will ultimately serve the kids of Wisconsin.”
The School of Education continues to fundraise to support rural school leaders. If you’d like to help, contact School of Education Development Director Betsy Burns via email at betsy.burns@supportuw.org.