Thompson looks back on a quarter century at Aplington and A-P

Just a few days before he set out on his next adventure, during what was almost certainly his last official media interview as the superintendent at Aplington-Parkersburg, Jon Thompson shared a warm moment with head custodian Ron Westerman, who has his cell phone number memorized. He couldn’t help but lament that his boss—and friend—would be departing.

“This is it. It’s all over, and that ain’t a good thing,” Westerman said. “If you ever need to get in after you leave, just yell. I’ll get you a key and let you in.”

Thompson isn’t simply walking away from the school district where he’s worked for the last 26 years. He’s leaving the place where he raised his family, forged lifelong bonds with fellow staff members and established himself as a leader of the highest order amidst two of the most traumatic tragedies in the history of rural Iowa—both within 13 months of each other.

Through the good, the bad and the ugly, he was there for Aplington-Parkersburg, first as a principal, then, for the last 13 years, as superintendent, and those who have known him agree on one thing. As he retires in Iowa and takes over at Rushford-Peterson (Minnesota) as of July 1, Thompson will be sorely missed.

Fatherly inspiration

Thompson’s father Robert was a principal and an assistant superintendent in Storm Lake, and like so many other sons, he wanted to emulate him and do what he did. Education was a family business: one of Jon’s brothers recently retired after a long and successful teaching career. And Gary Flanigan, a fellow Storm Lake native and classmate of Thompson’s who’s now the A-P High School guidance counselor, has come to view his friend, colleague and frequent golf partner as more of a relative.

“In hindsight, when we get all done, and especially now with him leaving, you start thinking about it. Otherwise, it was just kind of the way it was,” Flanigan said. “It’s been nice. Our kids grew up, and they were kind of more like cousins than two families who were friends. It’s been like having family here in Aplington.”

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