SSSA Winner: Kennedy Tedford – Saltillo HS

We recently received the following email from teacher, Stephanie Box, at Saltillo HS in Saltillo, MS about SSSA Winner, Kennedy Tedford: “Thank you so much for choosing Kennedy Tedford to receive this award. Kennedy was presented this award in front of the entire student body and school staff. Our principal, Casey Dye, presented the award as the information about the Foundation and Kennedy’s service in the community was shared with everyone.”

Below is what Ms. Box had to say about Kennedy:

“Kennedy had a calling to raise kindness and awareness for people suffering from breast cancer. Her grandmother has stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. She beat it once, but now it has returned and has recently halted all treatment for the cancer. In the fall of 2021, Kennedy had an idea to start a walk to honor her grandmother and others affected by breast cancer.

She held her first walk at Saltillo City Park. In conjunction with her walk, Kennedy started a drive for “Encouragement Cards”. She has friends and classmates fill out a simple note card with an encouraging statement on it. Kennedy delivers these cards to the local cancer treatment center to be handed out to those going through treatments. Since the initial walk and the beginning of encouragement cards, Kennedy has expanded her walk to being hosted during the day at school with the support of her principal.

Kennedy held a T-shirt fundraiser, and she has also included encouragement cards to being given out at school to students and available to be given out as needed in the community. For example, she sent them to a town nearby that was devastated by a tornado this past spring. Kennedy is always thinking of others. She helped to feed the baseball team from that tornado affected area at their first baseball game back after the storm.

Most recently, she organized a meal for two sports teams, who had a teammate pass away unexpectedly due to an underlying health condition. Kennedy has a true servant’s heart. More than once, she has come to me and said “I have to do something for them” when something happens to a person/area. She doesn’t have any desire for recognition for any of these things. Her heart is pure, and she just wants everyone to spread kindness to others.”

The Peter R. Marsh Foundation is proud to help Saltillo HS recognize and reward Kennedy for her empathetic service to the community.

About Jim Warford

Jim Warford is the author of, The Chemistry of Culture: Strategies You Can Use to Create a Culture of Learning. For 15 years Jim Warford was Senior Advisor and Keynote Speaker for the International Center for Leadership in Education. Jim is an author, speaker, Leadership and Instructional Coach. He was named in March 2003 as Florida’s first Chancellor of K12 Public Schools. He stepped down in September, 2005 to become Executive Director of the Florida Association of School Administrators, representing over 10,000 Florida school leaders. As a Senior Advisor for the International Center for Leadership in Education, he works with states, districts and schools to provide coaching and executive training and support to school leaders and their staffs. As Florida’s Chancellor, he led the creation and state-wide implementation of Florida’s Continuous Improvement Model, FCIM, which resulted in that state’s dramatic gains in student achievement and an 80% reduction in the number low-performing schools. FCIM remains Florida’s required intervention for all low-performing schools. As Superintendent of the Marion County, Florida Public Schools, he first implemented the Continuous Improvement Model district-wide. As a result, school grades went from three “F”, eight “D” and only one “A” school in 1999 to twenty “A”, 16 “B” and no “F” schools in 2003. Under his leadership the high school dropout rate was cut in half. He taught applied technology courses at the high school level for 17 years and created a Computer Graphics/Video Production program that won many national and state awards. He was named Vanguard High School Teacher of the Year three separate times.

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