Students honor SMA co-founder with ceremony

After 46 years, Dan Kennedy is finally graduating from high school — as an educator. The co-founder and former head of school for the Sarasota Military Academy retired after more than 15 years at the helm with a special ceremony during morning formation with cadets Tuesday morning in the SMA courtyard. 

Kennedy recalled the early days of the school to the crowd of cadets, alumni and parents. 

“Things have certainly changed since 2003,” Kennedy said. “We had no chalk, no desks, no computers, no televisions.” 

The decision to retire comes after Kennedy stepped down as the head of school in January 2014 to become the school CEO. He left the school last July to aid in the transition of new Head of School Christina Bowman, who came on board in January 2014.  

Originally Kennedy set out on a career as an engineer for IBM until he volunteered with his wife, Tootie, to help mentor a youth group of students with difficulty in math and sciences. Kennedy grew the club to include a model-rocket program. 

“It was great fun, but it wasn’t long before these kids, who were supposedly not good at math and science, were working on equations to determine the drag coefficient, velocity and all kinds of forces on their model rockets,” Kennedy said.  “It was an amazing experience. We decided at that point that that was kind of a message for us. My wife and I decided collectively to switch over to education.”

“I’m very proud of you. As you’re choosing your careers, pick something that you enjoy doing, because you’re going to be doing it for a long time.”

– Dan Kennedy

 

Over the span of his 46 years in education, Kennedy served as the principal for Sarasota High School and assistant principal for Riverview High School. During the SMA morning formation, Kennedy told cadets that his best days by far were spent with the military academy. 

“I’m very proud of you,” Kennedy said. “As you’re choosing your careers, pick something that you enjoy doing, because you’re going to be doing it for a long time.”

Kennedy took the opportunity to shine a spotlight on graduating cadet Whitney Stewart for her leadership at SMA. He presented her with a “personal challenge coin.”

SMA Board Chairman Howard Crowell presented Dan and Tootie Kennedy with a special plaque at the base of the flagpole to commemorate their contributions to the school.