Big Sky teacher who showed 'Story of Stuff' earns EcoDareDevil Award

By Michael Moore of the Missoulian
September 12, 2009

By the time the dust settled on the so-called "Story of Stuff" debate, Big Sky High School teacher Kathleen Kennedy wasn't sure she wanted to teach any more.

But as the teaching community, University of Montana professors and much of Missoula rallied to her defense, Kennedy found herself revitalized and ready again for the classroom.

"I realized that there's nothing short of our future at stake, and I knew I had a role to play in that," she said Friday.

Her performance in that role has now earned her a national honor from an environmental group that has fashioned its award after another well-known Montanan, Evel Knievel.

It's called the EcoDareDevil Award, and Kennedy will receive it next Friday in Butte, Knievel's hometown, in a ceremony at Montana Tech. That's World Water Monitoring Day, which makes sense given that the award is bestowed by a group called Ocean Revolution.

"I just see winning the award as another way to talk about the importance of us paying attention to what's going on in the world," Kennedy said. "That's what motivates me, the chance to inspire people to not be complacent about the issues we're facing as a society."

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