Tracy Thornton Graphic Communications Instructor, Swofford Career Center
What do you do?
I am a high school graphic communications instructor at Swofford Career Center in Inman SC. I have been teaching for 22 years at the same school same subject matter. Before this, I worked in the art department for a package printing company for 7 years. I am a product of a local career center. I started taking graphic communications in high school in 1994 and from there finished as the top student of the class and with a job at a package printing company in 1995. That company helped pay my college tuition and allowed me to work and go to school. I am proud to be a woman in print and I love what I do because I get to teach what I have a passion for and inspire young people to pursue careers in the graphics industry.
What investments have you made in your professional career development?
For my professional career development, I finished my Associate Degree in Commercial Graphics from Spartanburg Community College in 2000 and started teaching in 2001. While teaching I obtained my teaching Certificate and then my Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design from Liberty University in 2019. I recently just completed my master’s Degree in Education from the University of South Carolina Upstate in 2023 with the help of my school district.
What investments have you made in your personal development?
I would consider the education I have pursued as not only professional development but also personal development. To teach at the career center my associate’s degree was sufficient along with my 7 years of on-the-job experience as long as I obtained a teaching certificate within 5 years on the job. The other advances in my education were purely to reach my personal goals and gain skills to pass on to the students. I also try to work in the industries on my summers off to stay up-to-date with technologies and skills I can pass along and also because I just love it and it’s rewarding.
How can the industry proactively invest in women, and why should this be a priority?
The industry can proactively make investments in women by giving women a voice such as this, Girls Who Print. I can see a change in the industry for women just in the 20-plus years I have been involved in it. I feel like management and lead press positions in the printing world were solely men’s positions 20 years ago. I love to go into companies now and see more women in these roles. I think more promotion of these opportunities for women would be great and advertise showing women with lead roles in the printing industry.
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