Kirsten (Burke) Kenny of Lockport was one of only 10 educators, nationwide, selected to receive the 2014 World Trade Center Teaching Award. Presented by the 9/11 Tribute Center in New York City, the national award recognizes educators who have developed exemplary educational projects that help sustain the memory of September 11, 2001.

Kenny is a ninth-grade religious education teacher at the Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart. She earned master’s degrees in both childhood education and literacy from Canisius College, which she largely credited for the award.

“I owe a debt of gratitude to Canisius College for making me into the teacher that I am,” said Kenny. “If I hadn’t been a part of the childhood education and literacy programs, I wouldn’t be able to put together such a strong curriculum for my 143 students. I wouldn’t know how to write such a strong lesson and unit plans, or engage students with my interaction in ‘real’ classroom experiences. I most definitely would not have had the tools to earn this award.”

Recipients of the World Trade Center Teaching Award are recognized for introducing 9/11 through curricula in the arts and humanities: history, language arts, visual, media and performing arts. Kenny was awarded for the ways in which she engages students in discussions about the ongoing impact of the September 11 attacks, and for her focus on the humanitarian responses to 9/11.

Kenny received her World Trade Center Teaching Award at New York City’s Tribute Center
on Wednesday, which marked the 21st anniversary of the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993.

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