PG County, Maryland high school teacher Keishia Thorpe won the $1 million 2021 Global Teacher Prize.
Prior to the recent achievement, Thorpe was chosen as the National Life Changer of the Year in 2018-2019 and was also honored with the Medal of Excellence from the governor of Maryland.
Thorpe was selected from over 8,000 nominations and applications from 121 countries around the world after she opened up a college education for students who are underprivileged and awarded by Varkey Foundation
According to the Global Teacher Prize’s website, Thorpe who was identified as an English teacher at International High School Langley Park in Bladensburg, Maryland, completely redesigned the 12th-grade curriculum for the English department to make it culturally relevant to her students who are first-generation Americans, immigrants, or refugees from mostly Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and South and Central America.
Moreover, she helped high school students gain fully-funded scholarships, and helped seniors win $6.7 million in scholarships in 2018-2019. Her efforts also reportedly resulted in a 40% increase in her students’ reading.
Furthermore, Inspired by her past struggles and experiences of being an unprivileged student, after she herself migrated to the US from Africa on a track and field scholarship, Thorpe and her twin sister Dr. Treisha Thorpe also founded a non-profit organization called U.S. Elite International Track and Field, Inc., aimsing to help student-athletes “at-risk” across the globe connect with college coaches to access fully-funded scholarships in the US.