Thompkins plans retirement
\ Housing Director calls it quits after 35 years
By YVETTE N. FREEMAN
Chronide Staff Writer
The executive director of the
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County
Housing Authority has announced
his plans to retire, after nearly four
decades with the agency.
: In a letter to Dr. David Burr,
chairman of the Housing Authority
Board of Commissioners and the
board members earlier this month,
David L. Thompkins announced
his retirement after 35 years with
the Housing Authority. However,
he said in an interview Wednes
day. that it was not an easy deci
sion to make.
; "I have mixed emotions. I
don't think the job is completed,*
he stated. "And I knew I had to
make a decision sooner or later,
so a few more years... I cant have
too much more of an imprint on
that agency. And- 1 think 35 years
is enough to give to public service,
especially wherein we work with
over 3300 units and the total of
oiver 10,000 persons under our
administration. It can get tiring."
I Thompkins' retirement will
Officially begin Dec. 31 of this
year, but the 59-year-old says he
has no plans of keeping a low pro
file. He stated that he is interest
ed in getting involved in the pri
vate business sector and possibly
running for some type of govern
ment office. "Also, I want to get
on some boards, like other people,
and try to make some rules and.
regulations that can help some
body, spd not hinder people," he
said. But for now he says he has
not made any definite plans, other
than just relaxing
for a while after
his retirement.
He stated, "I want
to rest first. I
want to depres
surize myself."
Thompkins,
who is a Winston
Salem native, first
joined The Hous
ing Authority in
1956, as manager
of the Kimberly
Park Project.
Over the years,
he received sev
eral promotions
ranging from
administrative
assistant, to
deputy director
and eventually
executive director.
"The best
thing that I liked is
that i was working
with people that
really needed
help, and you needed the concern
for and with. And everyday of my
life and working, I could see where
The Housing Authority, the agency
that I worked for, helped some
body that really needed help. And
helped somebody that was less
fortunate than myself," he stated.
Once Thompkins retires, he
plane to continue working with the
residents of the public housing
communities, possibly in a volun
, , T HJ
David L. Thorn pkins
teer capacity, because he says he
-really enjoys working with and
helping the residents.
"I enjoy seeing families make
economic progress through the
years. And a number of our fami
nes have done that," he said. In
fact, Thompkins is proud of the
_fact that both he and his staff have.
? *4.
A.
MM
WS/FC School Superintendent Larry Coble, Don Haver of R.J. Reynolds, and future students of the
new Downtown School cut tho ribbon at tho school's dedication. %
Downtown School to open Aug. 26
By YVETTE N. FREEMAN
Chronicle Staff Writer
Several of Winston-Salem's educational, city and
county leaders, parents and students were on hand
Monday, Aug. 19, for the ribbon-cutting and dedica
tlorrof the new Downtown School, located on the
lower level of the City Market building, 601 North
Cherry Street.
A crowd of at least 50 people, inoluding the
school's principal, Connie
Brown, and teachers, stood
outside of the school and
watched as WS/FC School
Superintendent Larry Cbble,
RJR representative Don
Haver and several children
who will be attending the
school, cut the ribbon to the
entrance.
"We, in the Winston
Salem/Forsyth County
Schools education family are pleased and proud
through the example communicated through our
downtown school proposal, to have been judged to
be risk-takers by the RJR-Nabisco Foundation," stat
ed Coble, just before the ribbon-cutting.
The new school was established with the help of
a Next Century grant from the RJR-Nabisco Founda
tion, to deliver instruction that will emphasize experi
mental learning, higher order thinking, problem solv
ing and knowledge application. The curriculum out
lined in the state standard course of study will also
be included in the program.
"Our education programJn the Downtown
School, as well as in our total program, must be
directed therefore, to teaching students to think, to
be flexible, to adapt, to
sions, to retrMft, analyst*
ly. Our mission then, isTo help students realize that
; there are unlimited possibilities ahead, and prepare
them to make positive changes...," stated Coble.
Coble's optimism was reinforced by several of
the parents whose children will be attending the
school. Valjean Griggs, whose seven-year-old
daughter Curtisha Ingram is enrolled in the school
said, "I think this is a wonderful opportunity for the
children. It is my desire that the entire system could
be like the downtown school. And I'm very happy
that Curtisha has the chance to expand and to grow."
Mike and Patti McGill, whose daughter Sara,
also seven, is enrolled at the school, feel that this is
the beginning of a new era of education. "It's an
opportunity that comes once
in a lifetime," said Mike
McGill. "This is going to be
the education of the future, I
do believe."
The Downtown School is
scheduled to open Monday,
Aug. 26, along with the other
schools in the system, with
120 students from kinder
garten through the third
grades.; The kindergarten
students will report to school on Tuesday, Aug. 27.
Over the next three years, additional students, up to
360, will be accepted to the school, which will then
consists of kindergarten through the fifth grade.
Class sizes will be about 15 students per teach
er, therefore giving special attention to students' self
esteem; achievement in academic, social and cultur
al areas, and to helping students become active and
curious learners. ' *
Students wilt have the option of choosing how
long they stay at the school during the day. Children,
age three through five, can attend from 8:30 a.m. to
12:30 p.m. each day, while other students will stay
from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Those students may par
ticipate in the entire extended-day program or either
IttWbre- or aMr-scfcoot session*. All students can
tttfose to participate In either the before or after
school care, available from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and
from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. ?
Students enrolled in the Downtown School were
Please see page A1 2
encouraged the residents of public
housing communities to get their
GED's if they did not graduate
from high school, and to try to
send their children to college so
that they (the children) can
achieve economic success and in
turn help their parents to have bet
ter lives.
In the last 35 years, Thomp
kins has seen several changes in
The Housing Authority, many of
which he says were for the better.
But he says working for the poor is
a continuous job and that the next
executive director will have quite a
challenge before him. Thompkins,
however, says that although his
job was indeed stressful, it was his
enjoyment in what he was doing
that kept him with the agency for
-such a lengthy period of time. -
"I've enjoyed my 35 years in
the Housing career, with the Win
ston-Salem Housing Authority. I
never thought that I would have
made it a career when I first joined
the Authority in '56. But for some
reason I just stayed and stayed
and stayed and stayed and
stayed, until it's time to go. I
always say that there are times
when you've got to know when to
fold'em and you've got to know
when to hold'em. And it's time to .
fold'em, for this situation. And I
hope to move on to something
else, where I will continue to be in
contact and working for people
that -were not as fortunate as I
was."
r
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