Noa Katherine Hampton keeps focus on her hometown
When you look and see a social media post or a billboard in town from Starkville Academy, chances are Noa Katherine Hampton orchestrated that.
At Starkville Academy, Hampton is the school's Director of Marketing and Public Relations, which puts her in charge of all of the school's promotional pieces, the school's website, all of the school's social media accounts, and helps run the Vols Production live-streaming platform.
Along with that role, Hampton is also the broadcast journalism and production teacher, and the girls assistant soccer coach.
“I never saw myself teaching. It's a lot, and I now thank teachers everywhere since I now know what they go through,” said Hampton. “With the class, we have Satoday, which is our student-run newscast, so I'm responsible for that class and making sure they know everything.”
Hampton has been in Starkville for the vast majority of her life, attending all schools in the Starkville Oktibbeha School District from pre-k all the way up to high school.
Being a SOSD product but working at Starkville Academy is something that Hampton finds a little ironic. But she mainly sees it as a “blessing” to have been able to be a part of both entities.
“I love the Starkville public school system, I loved my years in it, and I loved everything I did there. I ran cross country, I played volleyball, I played soccer. My friends, I love them. It truly was the best experience,” Hampton said.
The only time Hampton left her hometown of Starkville was when she attended Itawamba Community College in Fulton. That also happened to be where she would meet the love of her life.
Noa is married to Boston Hampton, who was on the ICC men's soccer team the same time she was on the women's soccer team. Noa already knew who he was since Starkville High School would play Tupelo High School in soccer pretty regularly.
“I knew who he was, I just didn't know him. I just knew he was really, really fast and really, really good on the wing,” said Hampton. “We met at ICC and we both had preseason for soccer, and I saw he was really cute and really good at soccer. He went to a Mississippi State game with me and the rest is history. We've been together since 2015, so it's been a long haul. We met on the soccer field of all places.”
After she finished at ICC, Hampton returned back to Starkville to finish her collegiate studies at Mississippi State University. Before, she never really saw herself in a “school setting.” But one of her professors at MSU told her about a job opening at Starkville Academy for a soccer coach with an interest in possible public relations and marketing.
“There was this wonderful opportunity, how could I say no? It was two part-time jobs that eventually became one full-time job. It just fell in my lap; it was perfect,” Hampton said.
Outside of her work, Hampton enjoys spending her free time with her family, her husband, their two dogs, and indulging in photography.
When asked what it is about her hometown that she loves the most, Hampton didn't hesitate when she said it was the community.
“It just feels like everybody's family here. One of the things that I was taught in high school was to never misbehave because everybody knows your business, and that is true here,” said Hampton. “I obviously love Mississippi State. I'm really looking forward to this weekend at Dudy Noble. That was always our thing growing up, going to baseball games with dad after school.”
This article is part of an ongoing, weekly series titled Know Your Neighbor. If you wish to be featured in a future Know Your Neighbor or know of someone you’d like to see in a future article, please email us at editor@ starkvilledailynews.com.