The principal of Ecole Olds Elementary School will soon be departing for a job at Olds College.
Debbie Thompson, who has worked at EOES for the past seven-and-a-half years as a teacher, vice-principal and principal – and more than 20 years in education including with the Chinook's Edge School Division – will be taking a job as the dean of animal sciences and horticulture beginning on Jan. 2, 2014. The job will consist of working with instructors and strengthening the link between the curriculum, instructors and students to make the education as relevant as possible to the needs of industry.
Thompson has always had a keen interest in post-secondary education and thought this opportunity would be a good way to explore that.
“Right now (Olds College has) a really strong focus on teaching and learning and that's kind of what my background has been and so I thought this is an opportunity to expand my own experience and utilize my skills in a new area that I have a really keen interest in,” Thompson said.
Even though the new opportunity is an exciting one for Thompson, she said she will miss the EOES community.
“I certainly wasn't necessarily actively looking for a change in my career at this time, but I was made aware of the opportunity and the ad came out and it was certainly a very difficult choice. Olds Elementary is an incredible school in a fantastic community. Chinook's Edge is an amazing organization. They're at a place where they're doing some really fantastic things around teaching and learning,” Thompson said.
The school division is now advertising to find a replacement for Thompson.
