Lenox teacher survives bombings with help from her students

LENOX – While there were many local Berkshire County marathoners who raced in the tragic race on Patriot’s Day, there was one special runner who had a caring and concerned group of third graders following her each step of the way through.

Lenox’s Sharon Kennedy, who teaches third grade at Morris Elementary School, was competing in her fifth consecutive Boston Marathon, after deciding she would integrate the historic race into her lesson plans.

“I bring fitness into the classroom,” Ms. Kennedy said. “When I registered, I started teaching them the course and what exactly an athlete has to go through with some math and lessons on the historic American Revolution sites around Boston.”

It was Ms. Kennedy’s first year that she shared her race number with her students in order so they could all join her by monitoring her progress at each mile mark.

Ms. Kennedy finished with a fantastic time of three hours and 18 minutes for the 26.2-mile course, and from the start, she felt the presence and the support of her students throughout the race.

“I felt – at no time during the marathon – tired or that I couldn’t do it, and I believe it was my kids who pulled me through that, I wanted to make them proud, I wanted them to be proud of their teacher,” she said.

“I had a really good race…then I didn’t,” she added.

While the time on the race clock read 4:09 when the first bomb exploded on Boylston Street, Ms. Kennedy’s time was misleading in the fact that she didn’t cross the starting line in Hopkinton until 25 minutes after the gun sounded.

“It’s chaotic, but it’s organized chaos, and the BAA runs the best organized race I have ever run – they did a fantastic job,” she said.

As Ms. Kennedy traveled a block down the street to pick up her bag off a bus, she soon traveled a few blocks in the other direction to the family tent to meet up with a friend.

“I started hearing a barrage of sirens,” she said.

She then ducked into a restaurant a few blocks from the finishing line and watched her phone start ringing.

“I just can’t remember what happened – I just can’t piece it together – it’s a lot to process – I just knew my phone was going crazy; I was getting text messages and voicemails I couldn’t answer,” Ms. Kennedy said.

“In the restaurant, you could hear a pin drop as everyone inside huddled around the TVs – I was just sobbing and sobbing; it was terrible,” she added.

Fortunately, she was able to connect with Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli near the finish line, maybe two hours following the bomb blasts.

Through a friend, a local Bostonian gave Ms. Kennedy a ride to her hotel over at the Seaport Westin, where she was in lockdown for the night.

She was able to reach her sister in North Carolina, where she was able to link friends with her friends on Facebook and post to everyone that she was indeed safe and secure.

“I don’t think I stopped crying for days – I felt awful that my kids didn’t know if I was okay,” Ms. Kennedy said.

While Kennedy was able to return to Lenox on the morning following the marathon, the harrowing ordeal had taken its toll on the schoolteacher.

“I needed to connect with family friend, John Pignatelli, and my elderly neighbors,” she said. “I was humbled by the amount of concern – I’ve made a strong connection with my kids and families in the community.”

While many locals brought food and flowers over to Ms. Kennedy’s home and offered any support needed, she shared the importance of a hug she received from a local police officer as she walked downtown.

She did have a week to unwind with the remaining April vacation before returning to school to address the ordeal with her class.

After returning Monday morning with lots of hugs and well wishes from all the staff and students, Ms. Kennedy consulted with the school counselors before addressing the incident with her own students.

The students put together a collage with the words “Boston Strong” and healing messages that Ms. Kennedy placed on the bulletin board in front of the room with her medal and marathon bag attached.

“One of the messages was, ‘Don’t ever do that to me again, Ms. Kennedy,” said the teacher jokingly.

“I got 22 kids who can help me get through this, and I believe they did – and that is awesome,” she said.

Posted by Tim Davis on May 2, 2013. Filed under Community News,Featured,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry