Thonstad is a model of late career change

Young people these days are told that they should expect to change careers several times during their working lives. When he talks to the students in Sisters schools, Superintendent Ted Thonstad can offer himself as a personification of that probability.

Omitting much detail, here are the main stops on his career path since he earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Oregon in 1966:

• Pay analyst for the Oregon Civil Service Commission.

  (1966-67).

• Field sales person in three cities over four years for Northwest Airlines, leading to promotion to manager of sales administration at the airline's Minneapolis headquarters.

  Following that, director of employment.

  He set a record for longevity in this position, according to his resume.

  All of this happened between 1968 and 1977.

• Marketing director and then general personnel manager for Official Airline Guides, an Illinois-based publisher of airline schedules and travel guides.

  At the time, the company was a subsidiary of Dun & Bradstreet.

  (1977 to 1985).

• Owner of The Printing Post, one of two commercial print shops in Redmond.

  During his tenure, the business grew from five to 14 full-time employees.

  (1985 to 1998).

• Regional sales director for TEAM America, a national firm that provides human resources, insurance, retirement and other services to small businesses.

  (11/99 to 4/01).

• Superintendent and principal of both the elementary and high schools, Condon School District, 170 students, in Gilliam County.

  (8/01 to 8/04).

• Superintendent of schools, Sisters, 1,200 students, August 2004 to the present.

This is the route taken by a 61-year-old man who, as a college-bound graduate of Umatilla High School (his father was a McNary Dam powerhouse operator), had career interests in law, politics and government.

He attended the college that gave him a football scholarship, Pacific University in Forest Grove, transferring after three years to the University of Oregon ("Yes, I am a Duck" he confessed to the Sisters staff in an introductory talk before the school year opened).

During his senior year in Eugene, Thonstad decided that maybe he wasn't cut out for the law after all and wound up taking several business courses. Considering his subsequent jobs, that was wise.

But why does a man who has enjoyed success as a corporate executive and a small business owner jump into the vastly different world of school administration? It was not a sudden epiphany. He did not have a vision driving back to Redmond after a boring meeting in Bend.

What he did have during the 16 years his family spent in Redmond was a constantly growing interest in education that began with his own three children (he and his wife, Shirley, have been married for 37 years) and expanded into multiple forms of volunteer service on behalf of the public schools, including 10 years (1981 to 91) as a member of the school board.

The Chamber of Commerce recognized him as Redmond's First Citizen for 1991. His plaque reads, "Friend of youth and community leader."

This deep involvement led him to consider actually working as a school administrator, an interest that received strong encouragement from several people, including Redmond's then-superintendent, Jerry Colonna, now superintendent in Beaverton.

He was also actively recruited by Nancy Golden, then head of the administrative licensure program at the University of Oregon. She has since become superintendent of Springfield schools.

After he sold his printing business, Thonstad had to run the strenuous gauntlet of Golden's program between the fall of 1999 -- full-time beginning in the fall of 2000 -- to obtain an Initial Administrative License and later a Continuing Administrative License, plus a master's degree in education. These allow him to work as a superintendent.

Golden helped him persuade the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission that his experience in corporate training and employee coaching, community college teaching, adult education and church-related teaching at senior high and adult levels, while unorthodox, were sufficient to satisfy the three years' teaching requirement for the administrative program.

Looking back, Thonstad offers an informal explanation of the motives behind his career change: "I got into this because of an interest in education that is really driven by a love for kids. My wife says I went through a midlife crisis when our youngest went off to college. I'm not a very good empty nester."

During his three years in Condon --serving both as superintendent and as principal -- Thonstad helped the district pass both a bond measure for building renovations and a local option levy to bolster the operating budget.

He explained to The Nugget that during the past year he inquired about several other jobs and thereby came to the attention of the Washington-based consultant who was helping both Redmond and, eventually, Sisters look for new superintendents.

When Lynn Baker announced that he would be leaving after only one year in Sisters, the consultant suggested that Thonstad might be a good fit there. After its interviews, the Sisters board agreed and hired Thonstad just a month before school opened for 2004-2005.

While the new superintendent has long admired Sisters schools, he said during an interview in his new office: "The one thing I was concerned about coming to Sisters was being in this office. You know, I'm not with the kids. In Condon I was both the superintendent and the principal so I was with the kids. I had a great connection with them, sometimes (laughing) more than I wanted..."

He said he does plan to get out of the office and go where the kids are in Sisters.