ISP hires the best faculty internationally, and has always had a number of extremely popular educators. IB Chemistry Teacher Richard Thornley, however, now in his third school year at ISP takes this to another level! Mr Thornley is rated no.1 for digital resources by IB students worldwide on the popular https://ibresources.org/ website!
Mr. Thornley’s immensely popular YouTube channel aligned to IB Chemistry syllabus has over 54,000 subscribers and 17 million views (65 years of viewing time)!
A native of South London, Mr. Thornley’s YouTube story started a decade ago in New York, when he was teaching in New York City at the United Nations International School. As the man himself put it; “I was previously Head of Environmental Science at the University of Hertfordshire, albeit there were only two Environmental Scientists in the place, then I eventually pitched up in New York! The United Nations International School had overhired slightly in that particular year and so I felt like I had to do something to justify my existence!”
Mr. Thornley’s effervescent videos, in which he presents various aspects of the IB Chemistry program, were not an immediate success. “For the first say, 50 videos no one cared. As I posted more, however, it started to grow a bit and my young teacher’s ego got a little massage!”
Mr. Thornley’s channel has grown phenomenally over a decade and he often gets positive feedback, both from ISP students and from others around the world. “It does feel nice when some kid who I have never met mentions that my videos helped them get through the IB Program”. He modestly adds, “I suppose my videos are meant as something of an apology for my early days as a teacher! Sometimes, I also look at the videos and consider where I was at that time. In a way it is like the younger me helps the older me”.
If any former ISP Scientists haven’t already checked out and subscribed to Mr. Thornley’s channel, which has inspired IB students around the globe with diverse, practical videos on everything from Atomic Structure, to Finding the Molar Mass of Lighter Fluid to Analysis of Aspirin Tablets, do so at this link!
