BETHALTO - Twenty years ago, Laura Gipson found her way to Trimpe Middle School, and she has loved it there ever since.
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Gipson is the principal of Trimpe Middle School in the Bethalto Community Unit School District #8. She enjoys going to work every day and collaborating with other educators to make sure that students get the support they need as they transition to high school.
“Being here at Trimpe is like being with family,” Gipson said. “We care about each other. We come together when working towards the same goal. It correlates with our mission, which is to create a safe and welcoming environment that empowers students to successfully navigate the transition from elementary school to high school.”
While education has been a natural fit for Gipson, she didn’t grow up wanting to be a teacher. For a long time, she hoped to become a nurse. But her interest in music led her to SIUE’s symphonic band, and she eventually found her way to music education.
At SIUE, Gipson was an impressive French horn player. She learned how to play all of the instruments so that she could teach her students. Not long before graduation, she heard from a classmate’s mother that the Bethalto district was looking for a band director.
“It just really started to feel like my calling at that point. I knew that I had figured out what I wanted to do with my life,” she remembered. “[Bethalto] felt like a great place to start my career in, and I haven’t left.”
Gipson took on the band director role at Trimpe Middle School in 2005. She also taught fifth grade beginning band at Bethalto West and Meadowbrook. As a band teacher, Gipson enjoyed working with her students and watching them grow as people and musicians.
“I loved inspiring students to work towards becoming proficient on their instrument, which in turn allowed them to work together to create music as a team,” she said. “They were working towards that same goal. And it was always just so rewarding to watch my students grow as young musicians and hoping that I was able to help them create lasting memories, but more importantly, knowing that they were creating something great that others could benefit from and enjoy listening to.”
In 2016, Gipson took on a new position as an assistant principal at Trimpe. She loved being in that “supporter role for students and staff,” and she stayed there until the head principal position opened up last year.
As principal of Trimpe, Gipson sees firsthand how students thrive with the support of Trimpe’s staff. She noted that middle school can be a “fun age” as students transition from elementary school to high school, and she believes her job is to help them through this change.
“I think middle school students are trying to figure things out,” she explained. “They’re no longer elementary students, not quite high school. They’re really in that transition part of their life, and they need a lot of support. And I love that the people here — all the staff, teachers, custodians, bus drivers, everyone — work together to try to make sure that these students feel supported.”
Gipson’s work to support her students resonates with the larger Bethalto community. She grew up in Waterloo and has been pleased to discover that Bethalto has the same “small town community” feel. Even the substitute teachers at Trimpe remark on how welcome they feel and how well-behaved the students are, which Gipson believes “speaks volumes.”
“What really stands out about this community is I feel like people truly care about each other. We have great teachers, great students,” she said. “It just appears that this community really cares about each other, and it’s just really nice.”’
Outside of school, Gipson has two young boys. Her husband works in administration in a nearby district, so they often compare notes to find new ways of supporting their students and each other.
As Gipson prepares to celebrate her 20th anniversary at Bethalto, she is proud of the work she has done to support her students. She is thankful for her fellow educators, including Trimpe’s assistant principals Sandy Erzen and Zac Bilyeu, and she loves working with the students who make every day worth coming to school.
“One of my favorite parts is just being able to serve students and staff. Knowing that I can be a positive role model and help make someone’s day better is very rewarding to me,” she added. “When I get into work, I know that I am in a place that is here to support kids, and we are all working towards that same goal. Being able to be surrounded by people that really, truly care about students and our office staff is absolutely amazing.”
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