Teacher proud of character shown by student athletes

“My husband and I have called Crosby home for six years now. We specifically chose Crosby as the place we wanted to raise our family: a smallish, diverse, one-high school town. We immediately fell in love with the culture. And we made that trip to Austin for the football team’s state semifinal playoff game in 2014, just months before our son was born.

“In 2017, I left my job as a nurse administrator in the medical center to start Crosby High School’s Health Science program. It has been great, but we’ve had our share of challenges: hurricanes, floods, a financial crisis, and then COVID. The current pandemic has proven to be a challenge like none we have ever faced as educators. Our campus staff have bonded during this time, and I love to come to work every day. It has been hard, but our students are what truly make it worth it.

“Our football team is preparing for the state championship game, and the ride has been such a bright spot for our school — especially for us as teachers. We attend sporting events at least weekly to cheer for our students, and we rarely miss a football game. We traveled to watch our team take down four top 10-ranked teams on the road to the championship game. But the proudest moment as teachers was watching them interact with Liberty Hill after we beat them last week. Our boys postponed their celebration to console the Liberty Hill players, who had just lost their head coach, Jeff Walker, to cancer in December.

“Our community has rallied around Coach Walker’s wife, presenting her with a check prior to that game. His hat and jersey will accompany Crosby to the state championship game, so I feel like we now have two communities cheering us on.

“It makes us so proud that our students aren’t only successful on the field, but they are showing real character. Crosby needed this bright spot during such a difficult year. It has truly been special.”

— Kristi Thompson

Kristi’s husband, Corbett, also teaches at Crosby High School. The Cougars (12-3) beat Liberty Hill 62-61 in overtime last week. They will play Aledo (12-1) in the Class 5A-Division II championship game at 1 p.m. Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.