Mathematics Teacher Receives GGAA

In the challenging landscape of Jamaican education, the name Kimberly Todd shines brightly as a beacon of passion, resilience and transformative teaching.

A recipient of the 2025 Governor General’s Achievement Award (GGAA) for St. Ann in the 25 to 35 age category, Miss Todd is a dedicated educator committed to changing the perception of the subject (Mathematics), often viewed with disdain by students.

She tells JIS News that she is a “lover of Mathematics” and proclaims that the subject has profoundly shaped her life, not just through formulas but through the invaluable lessons of critical thinking, creativity, and the belief that every problem has a solution.

It is these values that she endeavours to pass on to her students at the Westwood High School in Trelawny, where she has taught for the past six years.

Miss Todd’s journey to becoming a Mathematics teacher was, by her own admission, a winding path.

While growing up in Brown’s Town, St. Ann, her aspirations ranged from being the Prime Minister of Jamaica to a lawyer, a flight attendant or nurse.

Despite leaving high school with an impressive nine Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects (eight ones and a two), financial constraints prevented her from pursuing law immediately.

“During my gap year, I had a conversation with my priest, and he asked me about maths. He said, ‘do you love maths?’ And I was like, yes, I have had a great passion for mathematics from primary school. He said, ‘would you teach it?’ I said yes, I would. From that one conversation, I applied for Church Teachers’ College. I got a scholarship from my church and from the Ministry to attend teachers’ college,” she recounts.

Miss Todd excelled in her Mathematics studies, serving as coach of the Maths Olympiad team and staff advisor to the Maths club during her time in college.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Education in Mathematics with first-class honours.

The educator says that the moment she stepped into the classroom, she knew that she had found her calling.

“I realised that I like this teaching thing, you know, and not just delivering content but the interaction with the students; being able to inspire students. I made up my mind to change the perspective of Maths in the classroom,” she recalls.

Miss Todd explains that her approach to Mathematics is far from conventional.

“I have managed to integrate storytelling into my delivery. So, my students will tell you that they don’t leave my classroom without a good story. Now, these stories are not abstract. They relate to the content that I am teaching. And these stories are personal stories that I have lived. And I am able to deliver the [Maths] content in a fun way,” she outlines.

The Mathematics teacher says she believes in showing students the real-life applications of Mathematics.

She takes them outside, incorporates games, and encourages understanding of concepts over mere procedures and formulas.

Providing an example of this, Miss Todd explains that in a recent lesson, she used a dancing exercise, where each number in a multiplication problem corresponds to a dance move to teach matrices, turning a potentially dry topic into an engaging, creative, and active learning experience.

“So, for me, using storytelling, using the dancing, the going outside, the games, all of those things within my classroom… the telling of jokes… all of that; I use it to make the Maths environment tension-free,” the educator tells JIS News.

She points out that this approach with her students has led to incredible success in the classroom, leading to her being named the Most Outstanding Teacher in the Mathematics Department at Westwood in 2024.

In 2025, Miss Todd’s dedication and skill also gained her national attention, as she emerged a regional finalist and later one of the top-five finalists in the Mathematics Teacher of the Year competition.

She notes that she has guided numerous students towards academic excellence, including one who secured a place on the National Merit List for Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Mathematics.

Miss Todd says she does not measure the success of her teaching solely by grades.

“If you leave my class, and you only learn Maths, I have failed an entire generation,” she says passionately, noting that her success lies in the small victories: a student grasping a difficult concept, a child who tries her best even if the grade is not perfect, and most importantly, the resilience and inspiration she instils.

“I have had children who have left my class and said, ‘Miss Todd, you know, perhaps we will never get an 80 or a 70, but you have inspired us. You have always been behind us. Miss, you have said, do not give up. We come and we are weary, we are tired. But you are saying, no, no, no. You have taught us the art of resilience’,” the educator recalls.

Miss Todd says these testimonies are her greatest motivators, especially when facing common challenges of the profession.

She notes that as a Christian, she believes it is her duty to help her students discover the “greatness that God has planted in them”.

This belief led her to undertake the mentorship of young women and to organise a breakfast programme for needy students.

She firmly believes that her greatest impact will always be within the classroom, directly shaping the minds and hearts of the next generation.

With this goal in mind, she plans to pursue a master’s in mathematics to delve deeper into the subject, aiming to “demystify the concepts to bring what is complex to the students as simple and understandable”.

Meanwhile, Miss Todd says that receiving the Governor General’s Achievement Award has been confirmation that she has chosen the right path.

“We do not do things to be recognised, but I will tell you, when you are recognised, it feels so good. Over the years, [I] have been volunteering, [I] have been doing all these things to impact the community and then here is this award validating my efforts, and of course, encouraging my continued dedication. It is like a pat on the back. It is like God came down and said, all right, good and faithful servant, you have done well. It is this beacon of hope,” she proclaims.

The educator adds that the award positions her for greater collaboration and empowerment of others in her community and school.