Amber Kinonen earned a Bachelor of Science in secondary education/English in 2000 and a Master of Arts in English/pedagogy in 2005 from Northern Michigan University where she also taught ENGL 309 The Teaching of Writing and obtained certification as a Teacher Consultant of the National Writing Project in 2007. Kinonen began at Bay College as a transitional reading instructor in 2008 and now teaches a variety of English courses. She currently serves as the College Readiness Coordinator. In addition, Kinonen was named as an Outstanding Educator for Bay College in 2012-2013 and again in 2017-2018 and then in 2021-2022. She was also Bay College's quarterly (December 2021 - February 2022) TORCH Award winner.