òòò½ÎÑ

Neuqua Valley High School, Naperville, Illinois

James Kennedy never planned to teach special education, but it’s now his passion. He went to college initially to learn to teach physical education, but when jobs were scarce, Kennedy ended up in a paraprofessional role supporting kindergartners through third graders with disabilities. That turned out to be the most important detour of his career.

Kennedy eventually found his way to Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, Illinois, after earning a master’s degree in learning behavior. He has spent the last nine years teaching Adapted Physical Education. His classroom is unlike any other in the building.

“I have made an effort to invest in each individual student, and I make an effort to ask questions and support them,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy runs a P.E. elective called Peer Partners where students with disabilities (athletes) share the gym with junior and senior students (peers). Through unified sports, holiday dance performances and units in fishing, bocce and cup stacking, Kennedy has built something rare: a space where two groups of students who might never cross paths find themselves, and each other.

“As an educator, mentor and coach, Mr. Kennedy brings a patient and professional sense of service to his students,” said Principal Lance Fuhrer.

McCormick senior Bhavi Barnwal said she learned valuable leadership skills during her time as a Peer Partner mentor.

“By creating spaces where students felt empowered to show up fully as themselves, Mr. Kennedy made Peer Partners a home where every student felt valued and championed,” Barnwal said.

Preena Shroff, a senior in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, said Kennedy helped shape her understanding of leadership, mindfulness and respect.

“I will always strive to match his energy on every team I lead and inspire others to see neurodiversity not as something to accommodate, but as something to value,” Shroff said.

Peer Partners is one of Kennedy’s proudest achievements.

“We should never make an assumption about someone and what they are capable of before giving them a chance to be successful,” Kennedy said. “Through this course, I hope my students learn that we are all capable of anything.”

Holton-Arms School, Bethesda, Maryland

Alessandra King is a third-generation teacher. Inspired by her Italian grandmother and mother who were both teachers, King learned early on that teaching is less a profession than a craft, passed down through people who believe in it completely.

King has taught domestically and internationally. At one point during her career, King encountered something her upbringing never prepared her for: the idea that girls weren’t supposed to be good at math.

“In college, many of my math and physics classmates were women,” King recalled. “My thesis adviser was a woman. As far as I knew, success in mathematics depended on talent and effort, not gender.”

That culture shock fueled her mission and work to counter the stereotype. Now teaching at Holton-Arms School, an all-girls school just outside Washington, D.C., King has created a classroom where she connects numbers to various disciplines including art, architecture and history.

“Mrs. King is an academic treasure,” said former student Maya Solomon.

Solomon, who will graduate with a degree in industrial engineering from McCormick, says she once struggled with math. She credits King with helping boost her confidence.

“Nowadays, I look forward to seeing Mrs. King’s posts on LinkedIn about the exciting work her current students are publishing alongside her. This level of passion, coupled with leading generations of students, especially young women, into having a head start in their research careers is commendable,” Solomon said.

“King’s commitment to enrichment is unparalleled,” said Brooke A. Depelteau, head of upper school at Holton-Arms.

“She is an extraordinary educator who fuels joy in her students while demanding academic excellence.”

King said she also expects her students to take intellectual risks and learn from their mistakes because, “I know they can.”

Townsend Harris High School, Flushing, New York

As a student, Brian Sweeney often questioned whether he would use what he was learning in school in his adult life. Now, 18 years into his teaching career, Sweeney has made it his mission to make sure his students never feel that way.

“I think if we can find what our students are passionate about and show them that their work is ‘real’ then we can, in turn, make as much meaning out of our jobs as possible,” Sweeney said.

Sweeney is an English teacher and adviser to “The Classic,” the student-run newspaper at Townsend Harris High School in Flushing, New York. He sets ambitious goals for journalism students, requiring them to publish original stories every single day of the calendar year. For example, students have earned press credentials to attend movie screenings. Once, they were the only student presenters at the prestigious PEN America’s World Voices Festival — an annual literary event.

In a twist of fate, Micah Sandy landed in Sweeney’s journalism class during his sophomore year of high school. Sandy intended to take a string orchestra class, but a shoulder injury prevented him from lifting a violin. Now, Sandy, a first-generation college student, is about to start a career as a journalist after graduating in June from the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.

“Mr. Sweeney connected me with numerous opportunities that have helped me grow in ways I otherwise wouldn’t have,” Sandy said.

As an English teacher, Sweeney has a passion for reading. When literacy rates were low post-pandemic, he established what became sold-out reading events throughout the year.

“Mr. Sweeney has shaped the lives of thousands of students and exemplifies teaching with purpose, integrity and national impact,” said Ryan Dunbar, assistant principal of English.

“What drives me is doing all that I can to show students what they do and what they can do matters,” Sweeney said.

Carroll High School, Fort Wayne, Indiana

A Greek proverb hangs on Jim Walker’s classroom wall: “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they shall never sit in.”

Walker, a science teacher in Fort Wayne, Indiana, has planted a lot of trees in his 25 years in education. Last year, he achieved a personal goal of giving away 1,000 trees to his students.  His classes have also planted a large tree around campus for the last 15 years. To Walker, a tree is the perfect metaphor for a young, growing mind.

“Our students aren’t all the same tree species, but they all add to the biodiversity of a healthy ecosystem,” Walker said. “My greatest reward is when I see how my ‘trees’ (i.e. students) grow up to find success and help build a better society for all of us.”

Walker views his profession as an educator with great respect and as his "calling" in life.  That has taken many different forms. He has led nearly a dozen summer eco tours to Costa Rica, run a gamers club for two decades and organized annual field trips to the Indiana Dunes, writing grants, if needed, to ensure no student is left behind.

“Jim is not only an outstanding teacher, but he also inspires students and is a leader whose impact extends far beyond the classroom,” said Cleve Million, principal of Carroll High School.

At the beginning of each academic year, McCormick School of Engineering senior Alexander Barb took a photo in front of the honey locust tree that Walker gifted him at the end of his senior year of high school.

“I can think of no better metaphor for the learning seeds that Mr. Walker planted inside each of his students’ hearts, going out to do better every day as they grow in the sun,” Barb said.

As for his teaching legacy, Walker said, “I will look back on my life at the end and know that I have helped make our society stronger and better for everyone.”