One of Rita Thompson’s favorite Shakespeare quotes can adequately symbolize her work ethic.

The quote is, “Nothing comes from nothing,” and with this premise in mind, Thompson reminds her students to always take a step forward in the right direction to see improvement.

Thompson has taught all levels of English as well as law in the social science department. Her worldly knowledge going up to the front of the classroom no matter the time or period, Thompson always put on a big smile, spoke with a passionate voice, and always kept her students engaged while teaching. One of her favorite parts of teaching was helping students overcome their struggles.

“I really enjoy helping students who are really struggling and seeing them have that moment where they finally reach their goal,” Thompson said.

One example she mentioned was helping a student go from not being able to pronounce letters, to becoming a reader.

“I had a student who at the time was a senior and was not able to learn the sounds of the letters,” Thompson said. “I helped him every day, and we worked on putting syllables together and pronouncing words. We later read a short book. I would read a paragraph and so would he. It was the first book he ever read and he ended up loving it and he would want to talk about it every day.”

It was an important moment to Thompson, as she said it showed her how much her help can impact just one person.

Senior Samantha Detloff  had Thompson as her AP language teacher last year. She said that Thompson made older works of literature engaging and understandable.

“Reading the Great Gatsby with Mrs. Thompson made it so exciting,” Detloff said. “We not only read the book but also did activities as a class to help us understand what was happening. Her way of teaching was really fun.”

Thompson also found passion in teaching literature to her students.

“Teaching plays was super fun because I loved getting students excited and on their feet acting out the scene,” Thompson said.

Although she will be retired, Thompson said that she will plan on spending quality time with her husband, gardening, and of course, reading.

Although Thompson’s time is up at Elk Grove, she said she would spend time during retirement working on her podcast called “College Focus,” which streams on all the popular platforms like Spotify.

“If you are fearful about making decisions for college, start learning about programs and colleges to help you make that next step,” Thompson said.