Mother Thanks Groton School For Helping Raise Son

Barbara Thompson was cleaning out old papers recently when she came across a file from . 

It was filled with paperwork about how to be a better parent. Thompson, who lives in Branford Manor, a large, federally-subsidized housing complex in Groton City, said she was so grateful looking at all those brochures, that she wrote a letter to the school.

“If you have never had a chance to give someone a wish in a lifetime, I want all of you to now you have now,” she wrote to Vice Principal Jeffrey Kotecki.

Her youngest son, Kieron Smith, 18, was one of the 2011 recipients of the Martin Luther King, Jr., scholarship award, which recognizes seniors for dedication to learning, understanding of King's mission and demonstration of character.

Smith, who is a senior at Fitch High school, is looking at Georgetown and Duke Universities, Dartmouth and Bentley College, where he will study business administration. He is also looking at Boston University and the University of Pennsylvania, his mother said.

Thompson struggled as a single parent when Smith was young. She has four children and worked three jobs, she said. Her youngest son lived around adults and did not see other children, Thompson said.

“I kept him shielded so he didn’t like to go outside and play," she said. "I wouldn’t let him go.”

Thompson said staff at the former Eastern Point School, then at West Side Middle School, helped her and her son.

“They taught him how to speak up for himself,” she said.

On March 22, Thompson wrote the letter to Kotecki and asked him to give a copy to every teacher and staff member at the school. Copies were also sent to the Board of Education.

“I will forever be grateful for the time and help all of you put into my son,” she wrote. “Words can never express how proud I feel that we were able to work together as a team.”

She added, “ . . .I have prayed for a long time that I could see one of my children raised with the life lessons Kieron has, and I could not have done it without your help. God Bless you all.”