Thomason sisters recall years spent as WSCC educators
HANCEVILLE, Ala. — Among the many educators who helped build Wallace State Community College into what it is today are sisters Freddie and Gail Thomason. Both helped form their respective departments at the college and watched the college grow.
Gail Thomason came to the college first as the director of the brand new Medical Laboratory Technology program in the mid-1970s. She led the department through its first accreditation before leaving in the early 1980s
“I had to write a self-study that was this thick,” Gail Thomason said, using her fingers to indicate the size of the document. “It took quite a long time. I was trying to write the program and write the lectures and I would do a little bit of accreditation along the way.”
Her hard work paid off with the awarding of the program’s first accreditation. She eventually left Wallace State for a new position.
“I’ve always been a roamer, more or less,” she said. “Whereas my sister got a job here and stayed.”
Freddie Thomason started working full-time at Wallace State in 1976 teaching psychology and mental health (now called Human Services), eventually becoming the director of the program before retiring in 2000. Both the psychology and mental health programs grew while she was on campus. The mental health program added options for drug and alcohol addiction, geriatrics, and social work programs. Today the Human Services program offers Associate in Science degree options in Mental Health Technician, Drug and Alcohol Addiction and Social Work, and a certificate in Gerontology.
She also saw the student population increase by leaps and bounds. As a psychology instructor, Thomason’s classes grew from a few dozen in those first years to almost 100 more students enrolled at Wallace State.
Both women were also on hand to see the physical changes to campus as it grew. From the first few buildings that housed everything from administration to technical programs — “It was just that little cluster right there,” Freddie Thomason said — to the construction of new buildings as more programs were added.
She said her office moved from one building to another before the construction of the Tom Bevill Health Education Building. She took a large role in designing the layout of the sixth floor, where the Human Services program would be located. “That was mine,” she said of the floor that her former coworker and current Human Services program director Susan Beck calls the Freddie Thomason floor.
Gail and Freddie say they both remember many of the students who came through their programs, though they said it’s easier to remember those from the earlier days when class sizes were a bit smaller. They still keep track of how their careers are going. Some of Freddie Thomason’s students have advanced on to be teachers themselves or are helping others through domestic violence programs and programs like Caring For Kids.
Gail Thomason recalls one specific student who used his degree to advance to become a registered nurse and is now a supervisor at a healthcare facility. “He was just a great example of how a junior college in a town like this could lead to such careers for so many students if they were just willing to pursue it.”
Some of their favorite memories of their time at Wallace State are those made with their co-workers.
“Dean McMinn used to have an old VW bus,” said Freddie Thomason.
“Like the hippies used to have,” her sister added.
“And we’d all pile in that thing at lunch and go eat at Luna’s or somewhere,” Freddie continued.
“We’d be in that old bus just a banging along,” Gail said
“He’s driving this thing and Marion Slatsky and Walter Brown, and we’d just have a great time with each other, and Bill Simpson. We really had a great time.”
That didn’t detract, however, from their overall goal of helping students succeed.
“All these people I’m mentioning were very conscientious, very sincere in wanting to do the best they could for their students and very interested in their future,” Gail said.
To see a video of the Thomason sisters talking about their time at Wallace State, visit the Wallace State Community College YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/w-5N8AG5jSI.
Wallace State Community College is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. For more information, visit www.wallacestate.edu.