Valrico

Principal earns top award, another degree

Kennedy recently finished her doctorate and was awarded for her support of student counseling.

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 11, 2003

Judith DeVore Kennedy admits there were moments over the past 21/2 years when she wanted to just give in to the flashes of overwhelming fatigue.

But Kennedy's staff at Valrico Elementary School say they never saw her waiver.

Instead, she excelled -- a feat that was celebrated last week with a county award and an all-day school party that illustrated how much she is loved.

Kennedy was named Elementary Administrator of the Year by the Hillsborough Counseling Association. The honor recognized Kennedy's fierce support of the guidance counseling program at Valrico Elementary.

Even better, she also just completed her doctoral studies in educational leadership at Nova Southeastern University -- one more degree to compliment her two master's degrees in education.

So as Kennedy toured her campus last Friday, admiring the classroom doors that students and teachers decorated in her honor, students waved and said, "Hi, Dr. Kennedy!" or "Hi, Miss Kennedy ... Um, I mean, Dr. Kennedy."

At a surprise party after school, dozens of teachers, custodians and secretaries applauded her in the media center and showered her with gifts, balloons and strains of For she's a jolly good fellow...

Guidance counselor Donna Cachia said the gifts were much deserved, considering all that Kennedy has done for the school over the past five years.

The school district only pays for one counselor per elementary school, but Kennedy found a creative way to hire another. When administrators learned last year that Valrico would receive federal aid, Kennedy set aside part of that money to hire a second counselor.

Three years ago, she secured a 3-year grant that paid for an afterschool program and "student advocate" who helps with character education.

Moreover, Cachia said Kennedy doesn't allow paperwork to take away from time spent counseling students.

Kennedy, who has worked in the Hillsborough County School District since 1979, even does a little counseling herself.

"She is just an exceptional leader in every way," said assistant principal Janine Hall. "She's always looking out for her faculty and staff. And children always come first."

When a student's family lost their home in a fire a few years ago, Kennedy laid down her charge card and put them in a hotel for a couple of nights, Hall said.

And when she wasn't studying and attending weekend classes toward her doctorate, Kennedy found time to lay bricks for the year-old reading garden and bench-filled courtyard that makes Valrico Elementary's campus feel like a small college.

Kennedy said earning her Ph.D. has always been a dream, "because I knew I could do it."

"But, I tell you, I had some real low points. You just get so tired."

Some students were initially confused about having a principal with the title of "Dr."

But first-grader Chastity Martin quickly figured it out.

"It's like Dr. Seuss," explained Martin, 6. "He's called that, but he's not really a doctor like at the hospital."

-- Shannon Colaveccho-Van Sickler can be reached at 661-2443 or svansickler@sptimes.com .