Member Spotlight - Gail Thomason

MY greatest joy in life is promoting youth via education. I consider myself a youth advocate. I have been married to Glenn Thomason for 53 years. We have two great children, Gailee and Ryan, both Harlingen High School graduates. Born and raised in Mission, Texas, to John and Josephine Griffin. Rotary has been in my family ever since I was growing up. My uncle, WB Dub Thornton, was a Rotary Governor, and my uncle, Henry Griffin, was a former Rotary president. My grandfather, Henry Griffin was also a longtime Rotarian. I remember when we were on vacation on California; he had to go to a Rotary meeting. I believe they all had perfect attendance. I graduated from UT Pan American and had my education hours at Texas Tech. My time at Coakley with principal, Bill Pietro was so fulfilling. I had the at-risk kids for English and Reading. Back in those days, I was able to incorporate holistic learning with community projects; where the students actually used what they learned. I heard about the 744th Presidential Points of Light and decided to enter us. We were selected the 744th Point of Light! Among other topics, we studied Rio Grande Valley history and wrote books using our English and reading skills. Every now and then, I run into past students who tell me they still have their books.