Sometimes a new career path begins in an unexpected place. Erin Thomas discovered hers while living in Montana, where her husband was teaching on a Native American reservation and she came across an opening for a math intervention coach. That opportunity introduced her to education and set her on a path that would eventually lead her to Cartmell Elementary School, where she is beginning a new role as instructional coach.
Thomas and her husband eventually moved to Madison, Indiana, where she entered a transition-to-teaching program and began what has become a 15-year career in education.
During that time, Thomas has worked with students ranging from preschool to middle school, but most of her classroom experience came in third grade.
“Third grade was the perfect age,” Thomas said with a smile. “I love the age range of intermediate students. They’re independent, but they’re still sweet.”
As her classroom experience grew, so did Thomas’ interest in leadership. She returned to school to earn her master’s degree and look for ways to make a greater investment in her school and community. She eventually had the opportunity to serve as an interim principal when her building’s principal was away.
Thomas continued looking for opportunities to expand her leadership experience, but she had not initially considered becoming an instructional coach. That changed when Nicole LeGrand, guidance counselor at Cartmell, reached out to her about the instructional coach position.
“I’d never really considered a coaching position until that and I realized I had amazing instructional coaches helping me throughout and I realized that would be a wonderful opportunity to help other educators like myself,” Thomas said.
Cartmell Principal Brandi Wells is excited Thomas brings experience with the Leader in Me program, an initiative in Carroll County’s elementary and middle schools that focuses on developing leadership skills in students. “Erin’s knowledge of Leader in Me and habits integration will help with the ongoing development of the leadership skills in our students,” Wells said.
As she begins her new role, Thomas is spending time learning the systems and resources already in place at Carroll County Schools. “I really want to dive deep into the curriculum,” Thomas said. “I want to familiarize myself with all of that in order to be a good resource for the teachers.”
Thomas said she is most excited about being someone who can work alongside teachers, offering ideas, strategies and support when needed.
“The job of an instructional coach is to be a resource to teachers on best practices for instruction and implementing high quality instructional resources,” she said. “It’s about giving teachers tools to add to their tool belt when they need something and helping take some of the load off their plate.”
Building relationships will be just as important as learning curriculum and instructional resources. “I want to make sure they know that I’m investing in the adults and the students in the building,” she said.