FAYETTEVILLE -- A lot has changed over the past six decades. Through it all, Thelma Thomason has worked for the Fayetteville School District.
She has taught more than 1,500 children during her 61-year career -- the longest anyone's ever been employed with the district, according to Alan Wilbourn, a district spokesman.
Tuesday is the last day of Fayetteville's 2022-23 school year, and after that Thomason will be done. She is retiring as a kindergarten teacher at Vandergriff Elementary School at the age of 84.
Superintendent John L. Colbert invited Thomason to Thursday's School Board meeting, where he presented her with flowers and introduced her to the board. Those attending the meeting gave her a standing ovation.
"On behalf of the Fayetteville Public Schools and all the parents and all the students, we want to say thank you very much, and we appreciate you and we wish you well in the next chapter of your life," Colbert told Thomason.
A reception was held in her honor last weekend at Vandergriff. She said she stood for more than two hours "with joy," greeting friends who came to wish her well.
Thomason began with the school district in the 1961-62 school year at Lincoln Elementary, which at the time was for Black students and has since closed. She taught first and second grades, as well as adult education classes at night, according to Wilbourn.
She later served as a social worker at Fayetteville High School before moving over to Butterfield Trail Elementary School when it opened in 1968; she stayed there for 26 years and taught kindergarten, first grade and second grade.
Then she joined the staff at Vandergriff Elementary when that school opened in 1995. She has taught kindergarten there ever since.
Thomason has worked for nine of the 13 superintendents in the district's 152-year history, according to Wilbourn.
Her husband, Romey Thomason, was also a teacher in the district for 52 years. He died in 2016. The Thomasons had five children together.
Thelma Thomason, in a phone interview Friday, was asked why she's continued to teach as long as she has.
"I lost my husband early, and I wasn't going to stay at home," she said. "And second, I like being out with the kids. I like teaching kids. I just like doing that. Kids are funny, and if you work with them they'll learn. And I learn a lot from them. And the parents are extremely nice."
Andrea Sego, principal at Vandergriff Elementary, said Thomason has a heart for students.
"She builds relationships with the students. She gets to know them," Sego said.
And there are some families in which the children and at least one of their parents have had Thomason as a teacher, Sego said.
"She's just a legend here," Sego said.
Brandy Vann teaches third grade at Vandergriff but started out as a kindergarten teacher when she was hired there 17 years ago. Thomason was part of the committee that interviewed Vann back then.
Vann's first child, now 12 years old, had Thomason as a kindergarten teacher. This school year, Vann's younger daughter got to have Thomason as a teacher as well.
Vann said she's extremely grateful Thomason remained on the job this past year so her daughter could have her as a teacher. Vann and Thomason were kindergarten teachers together for six years before Vann moved to another grade level.
"I've learned countless things inside and outside of the class" from Thomason, Vann said. "Not just about being a good teacher, but life lessons."
Next school year will feel different without Thomason in the building, Vann said.
"I just hope she's able to enjoy her retirement," she said. "I just really hope she's able to enjoy that to her fullest. I'm happy for her, but I'm sad for us. She is truly a legend, and when you think of Vandergriff, you think of Miss Thomason."
As for what's next, Thomason said, "Well, the yard is ready for me to put the flowers in. And I'm going to start reading my books at night. And I love going to antique shops, so I'll be visiting those things."
Plus, she said, she has a lot of work to do around the house, though she was quick to add, "I'm not saying I'm going to do it all."
Thelma Thomason, a kindergarten teacher at Vandergriff Elementary School, teaches reading skills Friday, May 26, 2023, with members of her class in her classroom at the school. Thomason is retiring after teaching in the district since the 1961-62 school year. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Thelma Thomason, a kindergarten teacher at Vandergriff Elementary School, teaches reading skills Friday, May 26, 2023, with members of her class in her classroom at the school. Thomason is retiring after teaching in the district since the 1961-62 school year. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Thelma Thomason, a kindergarten teacher at Vandergriff Elementary School, listens Friday, May 26, 2023, as Abigail Chaisson, 6, reads to her in her classroom at the school. Thomason is retiring after teaching in the district since the 1961-62 school year. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)