While walking in the hallway, everyone seems to notice the bright LED lights sparkling through the windows of room 121. However, there is another light that shines from the “Learning Lab” that’s brighter than the multi-colored ones. That light is Mrs. Kendra Burns.
Burns has taught at Cardinal Gibbons for 12 out of her 24 years of teaching. She started here in 2009 and taught until 2013, and then came back in 2017 and has been teaching here ever since.
From a young age, Burns had a love for teaching. In high school, she would often teach dance to little kids.
“I think I just liked sharing what you know with other people and seeing them get it, there’s something rewarding about it,” said Burns.
Still today, Burns continues to enjoy dancing, except now from behind the curtain. She is the stage manager for all of the dance showcases at Gibbons.
Loving What She Does
Many students can relate to English class often being boring, but English class with Burns is different. It’s easy to tell by just listening to her presentations or discussions that she genuinely loves the subject.
“I love a lot of aspects of what I teach. I get all excited about certain books and plays,” said Burns, “If you’re excited about it, I think kids, although they may not always love the content, I do think they see that excitement, and I think oftentimes, they will…want to do well.”
This view of teaching came from Burns’ own experience with teachers. Back in grade school, having dedicated and passionate teachers always influenced Burns to do better in school.
“When I see a good teacher and they’re excited about what they’re doing, I also want to do well for them.”
Flexibility and Challenging Herself
While teaching can seem simple and monotonous to some, Burns does her best to fill her classroom with change and variety. Her classroom is never in the same desk rotation for too long, and she’s always changing the decorations to match the next holiday.
“I like variety, I like change a lot,” said Burns. “It’s why I change my room around so much.”
It’s an important skill to be flexible and flow with change, and Burns does this well. This year, she has taken on teaching a class that she has not taught in many years, English 10 Honors. While she is an English teacher, she has only taught freshmen for the past couple years.
“I think it’s good for a teacher to challenge themselves and change what they’re teaching. So by teaching English 10 Honors this year, which I haven’t done in a long time, I like it because I like the challenge of it.”
A challenge that most teachers face is being flexible. Between interruptions in class and unplanned discussions, being flexible is essential to the job.
“Things just happen, right? Kids ask funny questions or you get on a tangent or get derailed…so I think you have to be flexible. That’s what life is all about and certainly in a school filled with young people,” Burns said.
The challenges of teaching are always present, but to Burns, it’s all worth it.
“At the end of the day, I want to care for them in a way that kind of nurtures everything for them, and so that’s the part I like.”
