College of Education's Carrie Thornthwaite wins 2016 Mary Morris Award
Lacey Klotz |
Carrie Thornthwaite, professor of education at Lipscomb, was named the 2016 recipient of the Mary Morris Award for Exemplary Service to Society.
In memory of Dr. Mary Morris, faculty member in the College of Education and founder and director of the Center for Character Development at Lipscomb, who died in 2005 due to cancer, the Mary Morris Award is given annually to a member of the Lipscomb community who has demonstrated a high level of service to the community and the church.
The award presentation was held in Stowe Hall in the Swang Business Center on Thursday, March 10, and fellow colleagues shared how Thornthwaite has devoted her life to children both locally and abroad.
Since 2003, Thornthwaite has worked with Colegio Maria Alvarado, a private school in Lima, Peru, where she, along with students from the College of Education, spend significant time teaching students about the United States in their middle and high school classes.
She also did work for four years with a Lipscomb mission team that partnered with Lucyana Iglesia de Cristo, a church in Peru, and this May, Thornthwaite is planning her third trip to the Comunidad de Niños, Sacrada Familia, an orphanage in Ventanilla, Peru.
During the trip, Lipscomb students will work in various classes in the orphanage, with students from Colegio Maria Alvarado serving as translators. Thornthwaite and her students from Lipscomb will also be taking 600 children to the zoo.
“These orphans are well cared for and seem very happy, but they virtually never get to go anywhere,” said Thornthwaite. “Through kind donations of three congregations, colleagues in the College of Education, children at Lipscomb Academy and others, I was able to raise enough money to be able to transport the children, with 90 chaperones to the zoo, which is one hour away. We will also be paying for entry to the zoo and for box lunches.”
Although Thornthwaite is extremely passionate about serving children in Peru, she also seeks to encourage her students at Lipscomb as well as local middle and high school students to believe that they have a bright future ahead of them.
Since 2011, Thornthwaite has partnered with Whites Creek High School for its Education Academy and has since attended advisory board meetings for its Education & Law Academy at Whites Creek. She also has taught classes on technology and arranged for the high school students to visit Lipscomb annually.
From 2014-15, Thornthwaite also worked with Lipscomb Academy Middle School coordinating trips for Destination Imagination, a program that fosters students creativity, courage and curiosity through open-ended academic challenges in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), fine arts and service learning. Her group went on to compete in the state competition.
One of Thornthwaite’s areas of expertise includes educators’ use of iPads, and she has written two books specifically about iPads: “Not a Toy, but a Tool: An Educators Guide for Understanding and Using iPads” and “The Deuce and a Half iPad: An Educators Guide for Bringing Discovery, Engagement, Understanding and Creativity into Education.”
“I firmly believe that iPads are valuable tools that teachers can use to increase student engagement and promote student learning,” said Thornthwaite.
Thornthwaite has utilized iPads in her graduate classes at Lipscomb and has shown students in the Education Academy at Whites Creek how to effectively use iPads in the elementary classroom. She also teaches for three weeks each summer with Carroll Wells, professor of mathematics at Lipscomb, in his SEE-Math workshops, to help Middle Tennessee math teachers understand how to use iPads in their classrooms.
As a personal friend of Mary Morris, Thornthwaite said that although she had won other awards in the past, this honor is far more significant than any other.
“I knew, admired and loved Mary Morris,” said Thornthwaite. “She was so talented and passionate about her work, and she certainly deserved to have this award named after her. The second reason for cherishing this award comes from my colleagues; many of them deserve to be up here with me, and the final reason that this award is so special to me is that service has always been my passion.
“It is a wonderful feeling today to have the recognition and appreciation from colleagues, yet, in truth, seeking an award should never be the goal of service. There’s a wonderful poem that I’ve kept on my desk for several years now. ‘It matters not if the world has heard or approves or understands…the only applause we’re meant to seek is that of nail-scarred hands.’”
Thornthwaite is the eleventh recipient of this award and each recipient demonstrates a spirit of volunteerism, engages in meaningful civic activities in the community that help spread God’s light, demonstrates a commitment to Christian missions wherever they may be, is an advocate for Lipscomb University, and exhibits vision in creating new avenues to expand Christian principles in unconventional ways.
The award is also made possible by Morris’ family. During the awards presentation, Charlie Morris, the father of Mary Morris, shared how Lipscomb was a special community for Mary and it continues to be a community that stands out in its commitment to service.
“What a reflection it is on Lipscomb to have within its family, those who represent service so well,” he said.
Past winners of the Mary Morris Award for Exemplary Service to Society include Rob Touchstone, Caleb Pickering, Richard Goode, Brett Flener, Kim Tucker, Tom Burton and Lindsey and Andrew Krinks, Jon Lee, Randy Steger and Nancy Moon Gonzalez.