Teachers Rock Nomination: Kathleen Walsh-Malone

We received a number of nominations for Kathleen Walsh-Malone, who teaches at the Kennedy Longfellow School in Cambridge.  I’ve gathered a selection of those testimonials below.  Kathy has clearly been an inspiration to many. 

“Kathy is the Technology Integration Specialist at the K-Lo. One of the many hats she wears is as the coordinator of the KeyPal Program--a partnership between the school, Cambridge School Volunteers, Draper Laboratory, IBM and MIT. Each year, she oversees each 5th and 6th grade student in their KeyPal pairing with an adult mentor from one of the sites. From making the student-volunteer matches, to making sure each and every email gets through, from bringing students to on-site visits to hosting the adults for breakfast at the school, from answering questions from all sides to making sure the students are on track with their projects, Kathy handles each task with evident care and expertise. Not only does she touch the lives of all the students that come through her classroom, but she helps volunteers from our companies have such wonderful and meaningful relationships with their student KeyPals!”

“Kathy does an amazing job with the KeyPal program that partners 5th and 6th graders with adults at Draper Laboratory, IBM, and MIT as email companions.”

“Kathy has done so much for the middle school kids of the Kennedy Longfellow, a school with a high percentage of low-income and immigrant children.  She is thoughtful and engaged.  Kathy has worked with Cambridge School Volunteers, Inc. to create unique partnerships with the community through the Keypals and Netpals corporate mentorship program.  These programs match IBM, MIT, and Draper Lab mentors with middle school kids for a year of correspondence, visits, and advice. “

“Kathy, has been a driving force behind the KeyPal program, a subset of the Cambridge School Volunteers Program which matches students with electronic pen pals from local businesses.  This innovative program is a cross between a mentoring and tutoring program and the kids (and adults!) really love it.  Her dedication to her students is incredible and even during her maternity leave you knew that she was watching over everyone.  This is one teach who makes sure no child falls through the cracks and don't we all need a teacher like that!”

“As the Technology Integration Specialist and lead teacher  for the KeyPals program, Kathy has grown the program from two classrooms to four, matching every 5th and 6th grader with an adult mentor from MIT, Draper, IBM, or Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Each year, for more than 10 years, Kathy has refined the program, incorporating exciting new projects for the children to share via e-mail, collaborating with the sponsoring companies to plan meaningful face-to-face visits for the adults and student KeyPals, and providing sensitive, insightful supervision of the weekly correspondence. “

“Kathy is an outstanding person and teacher. She works tirelessly with a broad range of students and provides a very positive role model for them. Kathy is also the driving force behind the Key-Pal program which matches students with volunteers in the local business community. These pairings give students exposure to people and insight to careers that they likely would not have had. This very successful program has been in place for about 17 years and through it, Kathy has made a very positive impact on the lives of hundreds of students and adult volunteers.”

“Kathy heads up the Mentor Place program, a collaboration between IBM, Draper Labs, MIT and the Cambridge School volunteers.  This program matches students in the 5th & 6th grade classes with mentors in each company.  Kathy's dedication started at it's inception almost 20 years ago and continues to be unfailing - even to the point of arranging for her brother to head up the program the year she was out on maternity leave.  She works diligently to match each student and mentor up so that each pairing meets the requests of the student and volunteer. - especially those students returning to the program for their second year.  This is no easy task given the number of students and volunteers.  Her passion for teaching and the students is evident in every communication sent out.  I often wonder how Kathy can keep track of all the students in the program, let alone all her other students.  Kathy inspires a passion for knowledge and learning and loves what she does.  She is the kind of teacher every child should have at some point in their life because it will never be the same after. “

“She has done an excellent job with the KeyPal program between her school and my work place(Draper Labs). She has helped many students that need support to keep them focused on school. Her program helps the kids see there potential future and reward for going to school. It shows kid a light at the end of the tunnel, when they are in school and don't really see why.”

“I work at draper Labs but am involved with the school because we are part of a volunteer program called the KeyPal Program, which we mentor students. Kathy has been excellent at putting these meetings together even when she was out on maternity leave she made sure the events were being taken care of because she didnt want the kids at the school to miss out on meeting us at Draper. I have been working with Kathy for over 5 years now and can truly say she loves those kids as if each were her own. She should win she does rock!”

“Kathy goes above and beyond the call of duty with the KeyPal program, and takes such a sincere interest in her students (and the mentors). She is always cheerful and patient as well!”

“Kathy is an integral part of the Kennedy Longfellow School and an even larger part of the KeyPal program. Each year Kathy coordinates MIT, IBM and Draper Laboratory and pairs them with 5th and 6th graders as part of the adult mentoring program known as Keypal. The kids just love Kathy and at that age, they don't love a whole lot. She garners respect from both the kids and the adults involved in the program and every year its a pleasure to see new students enjoy the experience and Kathy is a huge part of that.”

“Kathy organizes the KeyPal program, which brings 5th and 6th grade students together with their keypal counterparts at MIT and Draper.  This program takes lots of coordination, which Kathy does seamlessly to make it a success for the students and the adults.  It's very rewarding.”