Kennedy was recognized along with other UW system recipients at an ceremony held at UW-Superior. The task members meet each Saturday on campuses to develop strategies for keeping their native languages alive. The elders are the only true native speakers of Ojibewe, and they are the teachers. When they're gone, the language will die out without immediate resuscitation efforts. The course is particularly designed for teachers of Native American students who will go back into the classrooms to teach the students the rudimentary basics.
Plans are underway for more advanced courses as well.
Kennedy understands the difficulty of learning Ojibewe, a highly inflective language. One word can have 12 different endings and 12 different levels of meaning. She, too, is in the process of learning. In spite of living off the reservation and holding elementary teaching and administrative positions in the St. Paul public schools for 25 years, Kennedy didn't forget her Native American heritage. I supplemented the textbooks with the truth about Native American history.