Meet Carter...

Carter Thomas ’98, an English teacher in Westminster’s Middle School, exudes warmth. Anyone in her presence feels welcomed and valued. And for Carter, it’s a way of paying forward the warm welcome she encountered as a Westminster newcomer in ninth grade, fresh off a move from New Orleans, and the community that grew around her.

One of the first steps of Carter’s Wildcat journey was joining the softball team. “I’ve never encountered a more welcoming crew,” she says. “Playing softball with Coach Rick Hughes is one of my best memories—I loved getting that chance to go outside, throw with my buds, and be inspired by such a phenomenal coach and all my inspirational teammates.”

The sense of community Carter felt only grew as she began classes. “I will never forget Jim Justice’s ninth grade English class. That class was a safe place for me, where I could be my full self. It has informed so much of what I do with my students,” she says.

Now that she’s a teacher herself, Carter still draws inspiration from the faculty who surround her.

“My colleagues bring their whole selves into the classroom. That inspires me everyday. That’s what shaped me, and that’s what I want to give. We all bring a passion for young people and helping them grow up in all ways. Not just in intelligence, but in character, mind, spirit, body, all of it.”

From the moment class begins in Carter’s room, the atmosphere is one of trust, honesty, and curiosity, with plenty of joy mixed in.

“I love to greet my classes with something like, ‘Hello, on this glorious Wednesday afternoon, sweet people!’ They chime back as loudly and enthusiastically as possible,” Carter says. “Our daily greetings are something I never want to take for granted. It’s a way of saying, ‘Let’s do this together.’”

Many of the things Carter looks forward to on campus involve joining with her fellow Wildcats, whether it’s attending a chapel assembly with the entire Middle School student body or sitting amongst fellow alumni, parents, grandparents, and friends for the annual Messiah performance.

The start of the school year is one of Carter’s favorite times, particularly the day all Middle School students take team-building field trips. As they learn teamwork and camaraderie, Carter’s students are absorbing lessons about how to lead with conscience.

“They remember they are not an island. They’re part of something far larger than themselves. They are learning that we don’t exist for ourselves; we were made to love and share and extend our hands and help one another,” she explains. Building character with experiences like these and longstanding traditions like the Honor Code is “a fundamental part of who Westminster is,” she says.

Thanks to the warm embrace she felt as a new ninth grader more than twenty years ago, Carter’s Wildcat community is her family, and she strives each day to make this community proud.

“We all have that common desire to better ourselves for the good of our community and beyond,” she says. “This is a family with whom I’ve grown; they challenge me to be better, and I can’t ask for more.”

Why The Westminster Fund matters to Carter:

• Because of The Westminster Fund, the School is able to maintain small class sizes, allowing each student to receive personalized instruction from faculty members.
• Each year, unrestricted dollars support budgets for professional development, helping our talented faculty stay at the top of their field.
• Gifts to The Westminster Fund are an investment in teachers who support students and go above and beyond in the classroom every day.