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| CHIEFS WR EDDIE KENNISON SURPRISES FORMER TEACHER WITH LEAGUE-WIDE ACCOLADE
As a youth, Kansas City Chiefs WR Eddie Kennison was known mainly around Washington-Marion Magnet High School in Lake Charles, Louisiana for his athletic abilities. A Parade All-America selection in football, the gridiron and track where his passions. That is until he enrolled in Jacquelyn Stevens 11th-Grade English class. From that time forward, Kennison knew that his true bar of excellence was measured as a result of who he was as a man, not an athlete. Because of that special relationship between the two, Kennison recently returned to the Bayou State with a mission of informing his former instructor that she was being named the NFL’s 2007 Teacher of the Year.
“Mrs. Stevens taught me what it means to be a success,” Kennison recently noted. “Before she was my English teacher I thought life was just about having fun. She instilled within me the importance of giving my very best at everything, regardless of the task. She is a special person and so very passionate toward her student’s achievements.”
While the purpose of Kennison’s visit was certainly a shock, that wasn’t the only surprise he had to offer his former mentor. As a result of being named the NFL Teacher of the Year, Mrs. Stevens will travel to the annual AFC-NFC Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii as a guest of the NFL. There, Kennison will officially present the award to Stevens during an in-game ceremony. Additionally, Stevens will receive a $2,500 stipend and a $5,000 award will be presented to Washington-Marion Magnet High School on her behalf.
This is an unprecedented honor as it marks the third consecutive year and fourth time overall that the Chiefs have had a player’s former instructor named the NFL’s Teacher of the Year. G Will Shields (Charlotte Gagliardi in 2006) and QB Trent Green (Kurt Clodius in 2005) are the most recent honorees. In 1991, Chiefs all-time great and current finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame LB Derrick Thomas had his former middle school instructor Mariam Williams recognized. In fact, it was Thomas’ insistence that Williams was the true reason he found new focus in his life and became an NFL star that served as the inspiration for then-NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to initiate this accolade.
In 1990, Tagliabue and the NFL teams created the NFL Teacher of the Year award. Through this program, NFL players have honored the teachers who had the greatest impact on their educational and life-skills development. Each year, a panel of educators and civic leaders select a teacher to be honored from a pool of NFL player nominations.
Being the team’s 2006 Chiefs Man of the Year, and subsequently a nominee as 2006 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, Kennison was one of just 32 players selected league-wide to nominate a past teacher as this year’s NFL Teacher of the Year. Kennison receive that recognition in part because of the work both he and his wife Shimika do with “Quick Start: The Eddie Kennison Foundation.” Founded in 2003, after Shimika was diagnosed with Lupus, the Kennison’s made it one of their personal goals to do whatever they could to find a cure for this disease and raise the awareness level about Lupus in the general public. The other objective of the foundation is to fund local scholarships in Kansas City and Lake Charles. One of the influences that convinced Kennison to offer scholarships both where he grew up and in his current hometown was the special relationship he has with Mrs. Stevens.
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Contact Information:
Player Name: Eddie Kennison
NFL Team: Kansas City Chiefs
Teacher Name: Mrs. Jacquelyn Stevens
Subject Taught: English
Grade Taught: High School
School Name: Washington/Marion Magnet High School
Address: 2802 Pineview St, Lake Charles, LA 70615
Phone: (337) 433-5892
Description of Player’s Teacher:
When I was asked to nominate an individual as this year’s NFL Teacher of the Year, my answer was instantaneous… Mrs. Jacquelyn Stevens. You see, there were many individuals that are responsible for my achievements. Mrs. Stevens is at the top of that list. Her unquestioned gift as a teacher and ability to ignite a spark that quickly grew into a passion for learning helped me in the classroom, during my athletic endeavors and, most importantly, in my life! Simply put, she understood what it took to become a success and easily relayed that information.
To say that Mrs. Stevens took an active role in her students learning would be an immense understatement. I had the opportunity to take English with her during the 11th grade. At that time, I didn’t give much thought to school. The majority of my attention prior to that time shifted between social commitments and athletics. I was consumed with running track and playing football. Honestly, my time was probably more focused on just having a good time.
In Lake Charles, Louisiana where I grew up, there was a lot of time to get in trouble. Don’t get me wrong, Lake Charles is a wonderful place, but as with most areas in the United States, trouble was easy to find if you knew where to look. Every now and then, I didn’t need to look very hard to find it.
Any way, a lot of that changed after I began taking Mrs. Stevens’ English class. It’s funny looking back because there aren’t a lot of singular moments that I can point to and say, “That’s when I finally understood what it took to be a success.” I guess that’s because she perpetuated that attitude on a daily basis. She was never content to sit back and let anyone skate by. She quickly assessed the potential that each and every one of us possessed. If she felt that we weren’t maximizing what our talent level was, she would quickly let us know in no uncertain terms that our work would need to be attempted again… and again… and again.
It didn’t take us long to realize that if we didn’t want to do an assignment over and over again, we’d better just do it right the first time. The part that I didn’t expect was that I, and really everyone in my class, quickly began to take pride in our work. There was very little before this time that I took pride in outside of athletics. Under the rarest of circumstances was pride ever put into or taken out of my school work.
The free time that I once had outside of running track or playing football became focused on school and typically on my English assignments. With each passing week, I began to take more and more pride in the things I was accomplishing because it meant something. It was not only important to Mrs. Stevens but it started to become very important to me as well.
I think it’s a true gift when a person can selflessly take extra time and spend it on others. It would have been very easy for her to not put forth this effort. Countless others in my schooling were content to let me get by with merely attempting my studies on a minimal effort.
I do not want to misrepresent my high school years. By that I only mean to say that I wasn’t Washington-Marion’s valedictorian upon graduation. But that was okay both to myself and to Mrs. Stevens. Again, she just wanted me to put forth the effort that I was clearly capable of.
The point that is important to me and that I am hoping to relay is that I learned a lot more than English in Mrs. Stevens’ class. As you no doubt can tell by reading this, it wasn’t the verb conjugation or grammar or reading comprehension or spelling lessons that stuck with me. It was willing me to achieve my best. It was helping me find that part inside of me that wanted to do my best. To reach a personal level of success at whatever I attempted.
Before this, I participated in athletics because I was good at it. I was in sports because I wanted to better my socio-economic situation. Once I started taking that English class I realized there was so much more to participating in athletics than I had originally thought. Sure I was good at track and football but so much of that had to do with the gifts that God bestowed upon me. As a typical teenager, I was more interested in being cool and hanging out than I ever really was being great at my trade.
Now with a renewed self-confidence I began to focus more attention than ever on becoming the best I could be at everything. I was consumed with planning and training. I felt that I needed to reach the highest level of success because I owed it to myself. If I just did the bare minimum, I might have got a scholarship to college but I would likely have wound up right back in Lake Charles. No doubt I’d be sitting there right now trying to relive my glory years and angry at the world for holding me back when the only person truly responsible of that would be myself.
Because of what Mrs. Stevens gave me, I try to give back myself. I set up a scholarship program through my foundation. The very first thing I wanted to ensure was individuals like myself will have an opportunity to reach their levels of success. Therefore I initiated scholarships that would enable students from Lake Charles to receive the funding necessary for them to reach their educational goals. Just like Mrs. Stevens taught me, I make these scholarships renewable on a yearly basis to make sure that these students are continuing to maximize their fullest potential. I want to be sure that they are committed to reaching their own personal level of success.
One of my favorite things to do now is go back and visit Washington-Marion. Honestly, I spent so much time as a youth trying to make sure I’d never have to be anywhere near that school after I graduated that some back then might be surprised to know this. But it should come as no surprise that the main reason for my visits is to check in on Mrs. Stevens. She’s still there at the school teaching English. And I typically go back to my old school and visit with her classes so that they can understand the gift that’s been bestowed upon them in being a part of her class. I want each and every one of them to know that if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be in the NFL right now. Heck, I wouldn’t have been an NFL first-round draft pick, or a starting wide receiver finishing up his 12th NFL campaign, or a six-time NCAA track All-American or anything else of substance for that matter.
I’m sure that through the course of choosing the NFL’s Teacher of the Year you have read similar accounts from my counterparts League-wide. I’m sure that you’ll be able to point to a myriad of very deserving candidates. I’d never want to take away from the wonderful job that I’m sure each and every one of those fine men and women have done. Still, I’d be remiss if I didn’t implore you to consider Mrs. Jacquelyn Stevens as this year’s NFL Teacher of the Year.
While there are many that do an outstanding job and their craft, I can unequivocally state firsthand that none do a better job than Mrs. Stevens. Take it from a Louisiana high school boy that never really tried before taking an 11th-grade English class… Mrs. Stevens teaches more than words. Most importantly, she teaches the meaning of reaching one’s maximum level of success.
Again, I ask that you please strongly reflect on Mrs. Jacquelyn Stevens’ qualifications as this year’s NFL Teacher of the Year. Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.
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