“I spy something red,” Algebra 1 teacher said.

She often says this as her students are entering her room. This is a way for her to tell them it’s time to put phones up and read the board and get started on class work. Mrs. Kennedy is on the second floor of the academic tower.

“This is my fifth year at Melissa, and it’s my 20th year teaching,” Kennedy said.

Mrs. Kennedy has not always been a teacher. She did manage a department store for a while. Mrs. Kennedy asked when she got to college what would make her more sought-after, and the advisers said they needed more math teachers.

“I knew I wanted to coach, I just didn’t know what I wanted to teach,” Kennedy said. “Once I got into college I asked them what would make me more marketable, and they said they needed more math teachers, so I went math.”

Mrs. Kennedy said she would only want to leave teaching “to be a stay-at-home mom, to be with her kids more.

Mrs. Kennedy had some inspiration from her high school best friend to teach math, and she didn’t want to have to stay up late at night to grade papers.

“It takes too long to grade English papers, and I didn’t want to stay up all night grading papers,” Kennedy said. “In math you’re right or you’re wrong, and my best friend in high school said that if I had to teach anything, it had to be math because I was always helping her throughout school.”

From an early age Mrs. Kennedy had a thought of being a teacher. She would have her toys set up for her to play “school.”

“Yes, when I was little some girls would have tea parties, and I set my animals and dolls up and I taught them,” Kennedy said.

Mrs. Kennedy cares for all of her students and says that her favorite part of teaching is the students. Having patience for little kids is not Mrs. Kenndy’s cup of tea, so she went on to teach high school rather than elementary.

“Because I don’t have patience for little kids, by the time they get to me, they have to know right from wrong, so that I can just teach them math,” Kennedy said.

Mrs. Kennedy wants her students to take away from her teaching that she has a special place in her heart for them all.

“I want them to know that they are loved,” she said.

Mrs. Kennedy could care less if someone is bad at math. She is always there for her students, that’s what defines her teaching style.

“It doesn’t matter what level of math you are, whether you are low, in the middle of the pack, or high, I see your potential, and I push you further,” Kennedy said.