Who is Mrs. Thompson?

My name full name is April Wall Thompson.  I am sharing my maiden name because I was known as Miss Wall here at Alderman for 8 years.☺ I grew up in Burgaw, a small town in Pender County, and moved to Wilmington in 1996. Since Pender and New Hanover Counties are next door to each other I consider myself very much a local girl.  I love Wilmington and all of my family lives close by. 

I am excited and honored to say this year is my 26th year! All  of those years have been right here at Alderman!!  I graduated from UNC-W in Dec. 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education K-6 with a minor in Psychology.  I completed my internship in a 2nd grade classroom here at Alderman Elementary in the fall of 1998.  Immediately following graduation, I taught in Brunswick County as a long term sub for a Kindergarten teacher on maternity leave and then took an interim position in 2nd grade at the same school.  In August of 1999, I took a teacher's assistant position in a 3rd grade classroom at Eaton Elementary while waiting for a position to open at Alderman Elementary.  In Dec. 1999 I got the much anticipated phone call to interview for a position at Alderman and was hired as a full time employee. I taught 2nd grade for 2 1/2 years and 1st grade for 18 years.  I taught Kindergarten in 2019-2020 for the first time and absolutely loved it!! I then looped up with that class in 2020-2021 for my 18th year in first grade, then back to Kindergarten for the 21-22 school year where I have stayed since.  This year will be my 6th year teaching Kindergarten and I am so excited to meet the newest eaglets to join our nest!  I became National Board Certified in December 2006 and completed and passed the renewal process in 2015! I completed my 2nd renwal process last year and will get the results in December of this school year. 

I married my husband, Brannon in January 2008. We have a  daughter named Aleigh, who is an 8th grader at Roland Grise Middle School this year (and a former K-5 Alderman student) a cat named Tiger Lily, a cat named Ninja and a MiniBoz (Miniature Shchnauzer and Boston Terrier mix) named Gus.  I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, Mountain Bike riding, traveling, snow skiing, dancing, and 4-wheeling in our Jeep. I am also a former dancer.  I started dance lessons at the age of 5 and have danced most of my life ever since.  I took ballet, jazz, 10 years of tap and and spent over 40 years of my life clogging.  I spent most of my childhood through young adult years competing on a National Award Winning clogging team and traveling up and down the east coast to compete in competitions.  Most of my time is now spent watching my daughter play softball.  

 I look forward to an amazing and exciting 25-26 school year in Kindergarten!