“I think that my mere presence is an example of (how) there might be some Black or brown student, scholar or Black or brown family member — nothing against anybody else — but they see the similarity and feel comfortable coming to me,” Robinson Thompson said.
Robinson Thompson said as someone who did not have a Black teacher until she began attending Howard University, a historically Black university, she feels the representation on the school board will be helpful.
Robinson Thompson, who works for Omega Community Development Corp. as the founder of the Scholars of H.O.P.E. after-school program, ran unopposed. She received 32.2% of the total of 4,283 votes cast in the race.
Two incumbents, Leslie A. Miller and Nate Mundy, also won seats on the West Carrollton School Board. Angela Shockley, another incumbent, won a term ending Dec. 31, 2027.
Robinson Thompson grew up in the Washington, D.C. area and moved to the Dayton area 16 years ago. She holds a master’s degree in divinity and is working on a Ph.D. in educational leadership from Miami University.
Robinson Thompson has worked in private, public and charter schools as a teacher but left teaching several years ago.
It’s fairly common for school board members to be former teachers, but it’s not as common for them to be Black or have taught in several different kinds of schools.
Robinson Thompson said that experience helps her speak education’s language, such as understanding what the science of reading — a state initiative that stresses phonics alongside other tactics — entails, as well as what it actually looks like inside of a school building.
“I think that’s another asset that I bring that most people are not going to have,” she said.
Despite running unopposed, Robinson Thompson said she took the campaign seriously, knocking on doors and making it a point to listen to constituents even though she did not need to.
“I didn’t have to do that, but I wanted to do that because I wanted people to get to know me, and I wanted to hear what the constituent concerns were and things that were going well,” she said.
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