Solid as a Rock: Meet Kimberlee Thorburn ’07 ’16M, the 2024 Wright Award Winner  

Kimberlee Thorburn’07 ’16M has heard many valuable nuggets of wisdom during her career as a teacher. One piece of advice that stands out is this: As a teacher she needs to be a “solid object” in her students’ lives. For many students, especially in underserved areas like the one where Thorburn works, life can be chaotic. Having a teacher who is steady, predictable and safe can be a grounding force of good in their lives. 

As a Christian teaching in the Lynn, MA, public school system, Thorburn seeks not to merely be a solid object, but to draw her strength from Christ, the Solid Rock, and to reflect that to her students each day, as well as to her foster children. Her integrity, tenacity and leadership have won her the 2024 Wright Award, established in remembrance of Margaret Wright ’17 to honor a Gordon graduate making a difference in an underserved area through education. 

Teaching in an Underserved Community 

Thorburn served in a variety of schools, including a public charter school in Lawrence and North Shore Christian School, before transitioning to teaching kindergarten at Hood Elementary in the city of Lynn, where most families live near or below the poverty line.  

“These students live in communities where there’s financial stress or they might not have the best home life,” says Thorburn. “There’s a lot of keeping an eye out for kids that might be struggling to have enough food, perhaps not having proper dental or medical care…That became really evident when we taught online during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Limited access to devices and home internet created barriers to online learning. 

The vast majority of Thorburn’s students are English language learners, with nearly one-third of them knowing little to no English yet. Despite the odds Thorburn set high goals for herself and her students: to get at least 83 percent of them to identify at least 22 of the 26 alphabet letter sounds by April. During the first testing in October 2023, none of her students could do this. But by April 2024, 87 percent of her students had met or surpassed the goal when they were tested again. 

Being the Solid Rock 

Thorburn finds ways to integrate her faith into her public –school teaching by holding herself to a high level of integrity. Part of that means not cutting corners on providing instruction and conducting assessments and putting forth her best effort in class even when she’s tired, remembering to be the solid rock in her students’ lives. It also means making sure the kids are physically safe.  

“There is the burden of a teacher being a mandated reporter, and I’ve had to make reports a couple of times over the years,” says Thorburn. “I had a responsibility as a follower of Christ to pursue making sure that this student was safe as best as I could tell.” 

Thorburn knows her job as a teacher goes beyond helping kids and includes their families and the entire community as well. “There’s a lot of families that are doing life together, sometimes in larger groups rather than just individual family units, and just really doing good parenting,” she says. “That’s part of what makes my work such a joy, because these are the families that I’m helping.” 

Good, Rewarding Work 

As part of winning the Wright Award, Thorburn and her school will each receive $10,000. Thorburn hopes Hood Elementary will use the money to invest in professional development to equip fellow educators to better help students with trauma in the classroom. “As educators, especially in the community where we teach, we really need to be more informed and educated about trauma,” she says. “I would like to have good-quality speakers come in to speak about what trauma is, the signs of trauma in our students and what students who have experienced trauma need.” 

Thorburn plans to use her personal winnings to supplement her salary so she can continue teaching in underserved areas. She also hopes to use the money toward the future education of the foster children she hosts.  

“I am so blessed to have such an impact on students and their families,” she says. “That’s what I love so much about education: being able to work with students and also with their families. It’s highly rewarding. It’s hard work, but I think, as one of my former principals said, it is good work.”