Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,” and newly hired Dublin ISD Director of Curriculum and Instruction Trish Thornton wholeheartedly agrees, especially where women are concerned.
Trish, who started with DISD at the beginning of the school year, was the last graduating class at Texas A&I before it became Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
The educator’s background includes teaching math and being a math specialist, working for the Region 2 Education Service Center and being a high school principal.
“Family-student education relationships, and services have always been top priorities in my career,” she said. “Over the span of decades, I have passionately served students. Spending long hours into the late evenings, weekends, and summers, looking for a deeper understanding of my students’ needs and then learning the best methodologies and practices to use to be as prescriptive as I can to reach them.”
So what brought Trish from the coastline to Dublin? The easy answer is her two daughters - Jaqueline Sierra, and Lauren Avery who moved to the DFW area after finishing college and getting married.
Living more than seven hours away from her kids (and one day potential grandchildren) was not something Trish or her husband wanted to do, so they began to look for jobs that would allow them to relocate.
For Trish, Dublin ISD drew her in and allowed her to embrace her small town rural roots.
“Born and raised in Falfurrias, I have learned to appreciate, later in life, the many gifts of growing up in a small and rural town would have to offer. It’s the gift of understanding that helps me to connect to the students I serve, today,” she said.
Dublin ISD also allowed Trish to embrace “the green” since every school she has worked at has had green as one of their school colors.
“I own a lot of green clothes,” she said, laughing.
If Trish could share a piece of advice for those coming into education, it would be to forever be a student and never stop learning.
“I consider my first blessing in life to be the best inheritance a mother and father could give their children, a strong symbol of unconditional love,” she said. “At the top of my list of daily priorities, I strive, every day, to honor them.
“Then there were those that made an everlasting and positive impact in my life,” she added. “They were my role models that inspired me to become the educator that I am today. Some of my role models are no longer with us and may not have known the impact they had in my life, giving me more reason to use this opportunity to express my gratitude today.” When asked what teachers had specifically had an impact on her life, Trish offered the following insight: “Fortunately for me, there wasn’t only one, there were several that made a difference in school. I had the best environment and the greatest experiences any student could ask for in her K-12 education. I recognize all the teachers, principals, custodians, and cafeteria personnel that made a positive impact and left a lasting footprint in my heart. It’s because of them that I will forever be a student who has a love for learning,” she said.
(Written by Wyndi-Veigel Gaudette - Content Editor)