David Kennington
Educator and School Leader
PROJECTS
During my years in education, there have been countless projects and working groups in which I have been privileged to personally lead or closely participate. Several recent projects are included below.
I would emphasize that the success these projects experienced is directly tied to the team of dedicated staff with whom I partnered.
While I have the pleasure of speaking about these achievements and posting them to my portfolio, inside each project is a collection of stellar educators for whom I am very grateful.
Current and Former Projects
District Training For Visually Impaired Students
Odyssey High School recently welcomed our first visually disabled student and I was pleased to be one of the lead teachers developing instructional strategies and novel support structures for this young man. Now in his second year, this remarkable student is truly flourishing in an academically advanced program, including successfully completing AP Economics test questions in my course.
These successes caught the attention of our school district, and our Special Education team and I were invited to present our strategies and support structures to middle school teachers at a district-level training. Additionally, other middle schools are recommending our program to parents of similarly disabled students who are making the difficult choice of which area high school to attend.
Student Clubs
It has been a true pleasure to sponsor student clubs, and because Odyssey is a small, academics-only school, there are routinely more requests from students to host after-school clubs than I have days in the week.
In this year's clubs, my students have packed the weight room and volleyball court, and our Business Ethics Club was proud to be the only high school invited to the University of Colorado's Daniels Ethics Initiative competition.
Teacher Training and Leadership Development Seminar
I thoroughly enjoy working together with staff to advance a positive climate and culture of the school, and among my favorite roles is when I have the opportunity to develop future teacher-leaders. Mentoring staff and guiding up-and-coming leaders is an essential activity for successful schools.
To that end, I was privileged to envision and then launch a year-long leadership development seminar. The seminar met in the evenings and incorporated a book study (Mandela's Way), hosted community leaders as guest speakers, and held small group discussions, all focused on developing current and future department chairs.
The seminar was well-received and eventually had to be capped at twenty participants with a promise to offer it again in future years.
Testimonials
I'd like to thank my teacher, Mr. Kennington, for being such a pillar of support in the classroom. I couldn't have made Valedictorian without you.
London, Odyssey HS Early College Student
Just a quick shout out to let you know my colleagues and I recognize all the effort you have put into this institution and all the elements of "Dave" you have brought to MA...Mad respect."
John, Monument Academy Teacher