Beatrice "Bea" R. Thompson Spotlight...
The SCASP website is proud to present Bea Thompson as our first school psychologist to highlight on this website. As the eighth of nine chidren born to poor tenant farmer parents in the segregated South, the prospects for Bea did not look good. However, because of her intense determination to succeed and her parents' unflinching support, Bea accomplished her goals of becoming a respected teacher and active community leader. Her dream of reaching the top in education came in 1978 when she earned a doctorate in educational psychology at the University of Georgia. Her career as a teacher, a guidance counselor, a school psychologist and a coordinator of psychological services has been a blessing to Anderson County School District Five, with which she was associated for 38 years. Always a supporter of projects designed to advance educational and community facilities, Bea worked for the passage of the Educational Improvement Act, was a member of the Advisory Board of Winthrop College, spearheaded the development of the Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Program in Anderson District Five, and served on the Board of Regents for Leadership, South Carolina. Additionally, she is an advisor and consultant to the Anderson-Oconee Headstart Program. She was president of the South Carolina Personnel and Guidance Association from 1982-84. The success of the Westside Community Center is, in large part, a result of Bea's determination to use her influence and energy to help others. She helped mobilize community sentiments to make the center become a reality and currently serves as president of the center, which houses a health center, several social service agencies, and programs for adult education, parenting, mentoring and neighborhood recreation. In 1989, after the Hurricane Hugo devastated many low country schools, Bea took her husband's old truck and went to the schools in her district to obtain educational resources that these schools could use. Every principal in her district gathered books, crayons, and other educational supplies. Bea took these to the SCASP spring conference to be donated to the affected schools in the name of SCASP. Many honors and awards have been bestowed on Bea. They include: the South Carolina Headstart Association Award, the Omega Fraternity Citizen of the Year, the South Carolina Democratic Party Service Award, and a certificate in recognition for Outstanding Work in Education given by the Rotary Club. Bea was appointed by Barbara Nielson, and currently serves, on the task force to address Performance Standards for students with disabilities. The Beatrice Thompson Municipal Park in Anderson is named after her. Despite her many honors, Bea considers her role as a wife and mother to be the most rewarding part of her life. She continues to live by the philosophy instilled in her by her parents, who stessed, "Give to the world the best that you have and the best will come back to you."