Keisha Thorpe was chosen by the Global Teacher Prize as the best teacher in the world. Thorpe secured more than $6.7 million in scholarships for her students, most of whom are Latino immigrants.

The best teacher in the world according to the Global Teacher Prize is a Jamaican immigrant and teaches at a high school in Langley Park, the Latino heart of Maryland. Her achievement has been to open up university education to low-income immigrant and refugee students. The secret to her success, she says, lies in connecting teaching with reality. In 2018, she earned more than $6.7 million in college scholarships.

“I teach them things, even if I teach from the textbook, I relate it to their lives, to society in general, showing them how literature really shows the human condition. I make sure there is a transfer of knowledge,” said the teacher.

The teacher said she feels great empathy for the challenge that the academic system represents for an immigrant, so her work goes beyond the classroom. 17 years ago, she co-founded a non-profit organization that has helped more than 500 “at-risk” student-athletes around the world to use their athletic strength as a vehicle to access student scholarships.

“We go to different countries, and we have a convention where students show up in record numbers all the time, and they have the opportunity to talk to admissions officers and coaches on site, and they will be offered scholarship opportunities to go to college,” Thorpe added.

The teacher plans to use the million-dollar prize to continue helping more immigrants, like her, overcome academic barriers, especially language barriers:

“Whatever area they decide they want to pursue on their own, let them be prepared with the skills they need,” the educator concluded.

Professor Keisha was also honored with the Maryland State Medal of Excellence for influencing equitable policies in education, in addition to being named in 2018 as Life Changer of the Year, throughout the United States.

Source: Cash, D. (2021, 3 December). Teacher of Latino immigrants, chosen as the best teacher in the world. Voz de America. https://www.vozdeamerica.com/a/profesora-de-inmigrantes-latinos-escogida-como-la-mejor-maestra-del-mundo/6338486.html