The Team

Our executive team is overseen by a board of directors that ensures Benchmark Education delivers professionalism, trustworthiness, transparency and oversight for our organization….

As co-founder and president, Bruce came from corporate America over 15-years ago, transitioning into the academic industry.  From 2005 through 2011, he implemented Title programs across the country in over 100 schools and districts, with a focus on turning around low-performing schools using grass roots efforts and proven academic data model. He founded Genesee STEM Academy in Flint, Michigan, the first and only certified STEM academy in the county in 2012 and continues to open and greenfield new charters throughout the country.

Dr. Thorson comes to Benchmark Education with a plethora of educational experiences. Dr. Thorson was born in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area and has worked in urban education for most of his twenty three years in education. Dr. Thorson has a Masters in Elementary Education from John Carroll University and an Educational Degree in Organizational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University.  He has served as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and licensed superintendent in his 17 years of administrative experience.  Dr. Thorson has had many highlights during his career. He has served as principal of South High School in Cleveland, worked as a major developer in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and is a co-founder of two Midwest charter schools. He has had a long track record of academically sound, financially stable, and community and student centered schools. Dr. Thorson is a turnaround specialist building relationships with all stakeholders.

Jordyn comes to us with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Organizational Leadership.   She has extensive knowledge with project management, accounting, and recruiting on a national level. Over the last 5 years, Jordyn supervised and managed a nationwide IT consulting and service firm. Although Jordyn is new to the education industry, she is eager to add this exciting and growing industry to her portfolio.

Andrea has a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education, a Master’s Degree in Teaching and Learning, and holds a current pre-Kindergarten-8 teaching license; is a National Board Certified Teacher and mentor; former Ohio Department of Education Regional Content Facilitator for English Language Arts; Ohio Improvement Process facilitator; OTES certified evaluator; and an alum of Leadership Toledo.

Andrea consults with those schools and preschools whose leadership is committed to a true partnership rooted in results. Benchmark’s proven data collection process allows Andrea to build a positive teacher  atmosphere and  better build a culture of collaboration and team. This process focuses on small group instruction, and ultimately a more effective school!  As a former k-8 teacher for 15 years, Andrea’s students were consistently engaged, enjoyed learning, and scored very high on mandated state assessments.  Leveraging her experiences partnering with numerous client schools, management companies, boards, and sponsors; Andrea is committed to high-quality teaching and learning that is deeply rooted in multiple data points in all classrooms.

Thomas Hays is a visionary and innovative educational professional with wealth of experience managing multiple fund development and data driven community-based projects including, non-profit management, community engagement, K-12 Blended Learning Program. Thomas heads up our new business development and community outreach for our innovation STEM programing for school operations and ThinkStretch. Thomas has worked with and within  Local Education Agencies (LEA), State Education Agencies (SEA) operations & partnerships, Thomas has over 20 years experience with grants, rubric and designs programs, with an intensive knowledge of functional level reading and math curriculum designs, budgeting, regulatory compliance, risk-management. Thomas oversees Benchmarks startups, ranging from Preschool to Charter schools in our community of engagement, STEM and innovation programs.