Kim Murray’s horoscope detailed that 2012 would be a good year.
She just didn’t realize how good.
A chemistry teacher at Lenape High School in Mt. Laurel for 18 years, Murray has purchased the house of her dreams, has a husband she adores, two young adopted sons, and the distinction of being Burlington County’s Teacher of the Year to boot.
She is incredibly active within the district and community, reaching out to Mt. Laurel Schools to involve youngsters in the realm of chemistry through family science nights.
She attends international chemistry conferences to better reach her students. She creates songs to raise awareness for mandated tests.
Through her work at what she calls her “dream job,” she first received the honor of Teacher of the Year through the school system in January. From that point, she was awarded through the district level and then the county level.
By August, she will know if she is one of four finalists for state Teacher of the Year.
“Originally, I was looking for a smaller school,” Murray, now 40, said. “I was intimidated by the size of the school and the district. I wanted to feel a sense of community.”
At her young age, she decided to create that community feel she wanted in Mt. Laurel through science outreach programs.
The Pennsauken native, currently a resident of Southampton and soon to be living in Shamong, said she always knew she wanted to teach.
“I knew I wanted to teach before I knew what subject I wanted to teach,” she said. As a 5-year-old, she laughed, she had a classroom of stuffed animals under a chalkboard.
“They were such a nice class!” she jokingly said.
Her decision to become a chemistry teacher was largely in her own genes.
“Two of my biggest role models, my chemistry teacher from high school and my dad are both chemists,” she said.
The ultimate compliment, she said, is receiving messages from former students who have decided to follow in her footsteps.
“I just got an email from a student that graduated over 10 years ago,” she said. “The title of the email just said, ‘I’m a doctor.’”
Her former student had just defended her doctorate in analytical chemistry and was thanking Murray for her impact.
“I just had goose bumps reading it,” she said. “That just solidifies why I come here everyday.”
In the classroom, Murray sees herself as enthusiastic and creative.
“I like to think of my lessons outside of the box,” she said. “I like to have an element of surprise in my lessons. I won’t just show something. I might have some music in the background. I rarely tell them how something happens.”
Her motto is: “Magic is just chemistry that’s misunderstood.”
At the start of the school year, she will perform many demonstrations for her students — without telling them how to replicate them.
“I like them to be able to think for themselves,” she said, to better problem-solve.
Her method and those of her fellow educators worked, she explained, as the high school has produced many science majors over the years.
“I work alongside many inspirational teachers throughout the Lenape District and throughout Burlington County,” she said. With their help over the years, “It’s a tremendous honor to be recognized (with the award.)”
While her work certainly does not end in the classroom, she strives to learn as much as she possibly can through professional development programs. She recently attended a ChemEd conference with hundreds of fellow teachers and made connections from South Africa, China, and Japan — to name a few.
“I love professional development,” she said. I honestly can’t get enough of it.”
With funds tight in education, she still finds ways to go to conferences with business sponsorships.
“I want to make my students’ experiences better than the previous day,” she explained. “I’m very gracious for all these opportunities.”
Murray teaches three levels of chemistry — honors chemistry, AP chemistry, and advanced chemistry — to roughly 85 students.
When she’s not teaching, she may be scripting new lyrics for her annual HSPA (High School Proficiency Assessment) song.
Now in its fifth year, the HSPA song began as a joke. During a meeting, she started to sing H-S-P-A to the tune of “Y-M-C-A.” The principal found the scene comical and the idea continued.
“That was the first HSPA song where I changed the lyrics to a popular song to be HSPA related,” she said. This year’s song, “Walking on Sunshine,” has garnered over 1,300 hits.
“I can’t believe the popularity,” she said. “I joke now that I’m at HSPA album status.”
The HSPA is taken in March by the junior class, but the whole school gets involved with the song. In early February, a video is made with a karaoke choir in the background, she said.
In the week prior to testing, the announcements ring with the song nearly incessantly.
“By the time the HSPAs are here, they’re so tired of hearing the song,” she laughed.
Murray is also adviser to the Deborah Heart and Lung Challenge Team, but refuses to take credit for the team’s success.
She trains the students with knowledge on the respiratory and circulatory systems.
“I am just their quizzer. I just quiz quiz quiz,” she said. “They put so much work in that on their own. I just ask questions. I have the easy part.”
According to high school principal Tony Cattani, “Ms. Murray is a dedicated chemistry teacher who demonstrates her passion for teaching every day. She is a master teacher who has the ability to make very difficult chemistry concepts accessible and enjoyable for her students.”
When Murray thinks of her job, she is filled with awe.
“It saddens me to think of retiring, actually,” she said. “These kids, I feel like they’re my kids.”
At first, she and her husband struggled with the idea of adopting their sons (who both have their own Periodic Table blocks at ages 1 and 3), she admitted, until she realized how much she adores her students — and how similar adoption and teaching are in that respect.
“You think, ‘Would I be able to love a baby that didn’t come from my own gene pool?’” she asked herself, until “half the wattage of the sun” went off in her mind.
When her students are in their caps and gowns and are ready to meet the next portion of their lives, Murray is there — and usually in tears.
“Usually, I cry like a baby,” she said. “Adoption was a good road for us.”
“I feel like I’ve adopted over 2,000 kids in the last 18 years.”
