Thompson seeking school board seat

To the editor,
I was greatly pleased to I learn I was certified as a candidate for District 1 Orange County School Board. May I take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation to those who signed my petition for candidacy? For those who don't know me, may I take this opportunity to provide some background information and why I want to represent you on the county school board?
I came to Orange County 22 years ago and lived in the Somerset area until I bought our farm in early 1991 on Spicers Mill Road from J.B. and Nancy Haney. (Ancestors William Thompson and Michael Holland acquired land in what was then Orange County in 1739 and 1746 respectively.) I raise American Hanoverian sport horses and my wife Laura raises sheep and goats for fine wool. Laura is executive director of the Arts Center of Orange, and I am a partner with Beacon Advisors, a strategic communications consulting firm with seven partners from coast to coast. I work from my home office and serve as a vice-president on the Orange Boys & Girls Club Board of Directors.
We have an 18-year-old daughter, Emily, a 2008 graduate of Orange County High School where she was in the National Honor Society and a 10-year-old daughter, Helen, who will begin fifth grade at Orange Elementary School this fall. Emily started in pre-school at Grymes Memorial School and after fifth grade transferred to Prospect Heights Middle School. Emily just completed her freshman year at Longwood University. Helen has been in OES since kindergarten.
The five children from my first marriage all attended public schools in Fairfax County. My oldest son Louis III received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Virginia Tech, an M.D. from Medical College of Virginia and did his residency at Harvard Medical School. Middle son Eric attended Northern Virginia Community College and youngest son Chris earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University. Twin daughters Beth and Meg attended High Point University in North Carolina where Beth earned her undergraduate degree and Meg graduated from the University of North Florida. Clearly, I'm a strong believer in the quality of education one can get in public institutions.
I'm a product of the public school system from kindergarten through earning my B.S. degree in agricultural journalism at Iowa State University in 1961 and returning there as an Army major to receive an M.S. degree with honors in journalism, communication and political science in 1969. In 1998, I completed the Senior Executive Program at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. Laura attended public schools in Maryland and graduated from Hood College.
From 1960-61 I was news anchor for WOI-TV, an ABC affiliate in the Ames-Des Moines market, and when I graduated, I expected to go on active duty as a six-month reserve officer. President Kennedy froze all reserve officers on active duty for three years because of the Berlin and Cuban Missile Crises. I remained on active duty for 13 years serving as a general's aide in Korea in the mid-60s, commanding officer of an air defense missile battery, executive officer for the Military Assistant Command's Office of Information in Saigon in 1969-70, followed by a year at the Army's Command and General Staff College then to the Pentagon as military assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (public affairs).
When President Nixon resigned, I resigned my regular army commission as a major and went to the White House as assistant press secretary to President Gerald R. Ford. Following that I served as assistant to the President of the American Enterprise Institute, a business oriented think tank based in Washington, D.C. From 1978-82 I was senior vice president for the National Association of Home Builders in charge of public relations, economics and publisher of Builder magazine.
In 1982, I became president and CEO of the National Investor Relations Institute in D.C., a professional educational not-for-profit association for corporate officers and consultants in the field of investor relations and corporate communication. I grew the organization over the next 24 years from some 700 members to over 5,300 and was the organization's chief spokesman before the national media. Over the last decade at NIRI, I gave an average of 60 speeches a year to audiences in the U.S. and abroad. I retired from NIRI in 2006 and became a managing director for Kalorama Partners, a business-consulting firm founded by former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt. While I continue as a consultant for Kalorama Partners, I became a partner with Beacon Advisors in January.
From 2003-06 I served on the board of directors for the National Council for Economic Education, a New York based non-profit organization that produces supplemental educational materials for grades K-12. The NCEE is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and corporations like Microsoft. I just completed a three-year term as chairman of the advisory council for the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University where I provide two scholarships a year to undergraduate and graduate students and an annual cash award to the faculty member selected by the students as the best advisor.
Now, I want to turn my attention to Orange County educational issues, and with a daughter who will be part of the county's public schools for the next eight years, I have a keen personal interest but more importantly a broad interest in insuring that our children have the best educational opportunities possible since they represent our future locally, nationally and some even globally.
During the campaign, I want to hear and read your thoughts and ideas. Please send them to lou@beaconadvisors.us or call me at 672-1136. My campaign committee and I will be organizing some events where I hope to meet as many of you as possible on a personal basis.
Lou Thompson
Orange