Harper's Unsung Hero - Lesa Kenney

Inspiring Students and Staff

“Teaching is the greatest act of optimism.”

—Coleen Wilcox

Each of us has our own unique teaching journey that has led us to our current position with Harper Creek. Some of our teachers have taught the same grade or content in the same building and classroom for their entire careers. Others have also called Harper Creek home for the duration while completing stints in more than one position and different buildings within our district. There are also teachers in our schools, including Beadle Lake Spanish teacher Lesa Kenney, who have gained experience with other districts prior to coming to Harper Creek. Lesa has made stops at several school districts in our area, gaining valuable experience along the way, but has now found a home here at Harper Creek. 

Lesa was raised in Battle Creek for much of her childhood and has lived here all of her adult life. “I was born in Coshocton, Ohio, on November 4, 1981, the oldest of three children of my parents, Craig and Coessa Kenney,” Lesa said. “My sister Leslie was born in 1983, and my brother Michael was born in 1984.” Lesa and her family were still living in Ohio when she started kindergarten. “I walked to school every day, starting in kindergarten on my own,” Lesa recalled. “I remember Mom always hugging me before I left for school each morning. Both of my parents worked, so I had a babysitter who watched me when I came home from school. My dad would leave work at noon to pick me up and drive me to the babysitter’s house, before going back to work. We would often stop at Taco Stop, a local restaurant, to get lunch.” 

Lesa and her family came to Michigan the summer after she finished kindergarten. “We moved to Springfield,” Lesa explained. “My dad was transferred here with his job. He worked at Clow Piping Company. Dad eventually started working at Musasshi in the Fort Custer Industrial Area. He worked at a few other places and retired as a salesman for RSB Transmission, an auto parts company in Homer, after they closed a few years ago.

My mom worked as a waitress when we still lived in Ohio, and when we came to Springfield, she enrolled at KCC to get her degree to be a paralegal.  She continued to waitress and began an internship at the Calhoun County Courthouse while getting her degree at KCC. She started working there full-time in 1993 and continued there for 27 years before she retired.” 

Moving to the Battle Creek area and leaving extended family was initially a challenging transition for Lesa, but she was able to create many fond childhood memories here.”I remember going skating every weekend at Midway Rolling Rink,” Lesa recalled. “Mom would bring my siblings and me, and as many friends as we could fit in our van. Skating was one of my favorite activities growing up. After the pandemic, I dusted off my old skates, which were over thirty years old, and started skating again.”  As an adult, swimming and being in the water have become one of Lesa’s biggest passions. This began as a child, with time spent at Fort Custer State Park and on the shores of Lake Michigan. “We also went to Eagle Lake often during our summer vacations to swim when I was growing up,” added Lesa. “It was a great family time. Many summer afternoons were also spent in Lake Michigan at Warren Dunes State Park.”

Lesa and her siblings went to Battle Creek Public Schools. “We went to Valley View Elementary, Springfield Middle School, and Battle Creek Central High School.” Lesa enjoyed music as a child. “I participated in band and choir starting in middle school,” she said. “I played in the marching band, wind ensemble, and I played the flute. I also participated in softball and volleyball at Springfield Middle School. I stopped playing sports in high school. I just didn’t enjoy the competitive nature.”

Lesa’s mom instilled in her and her siblings the concept of a hard work ethic. “I started my first job in ninth grade, working at Post Gardens. They were flexible with after-school activities,” she explained. “My family struggled financially, so this was a way that I could pay for some things on my own.”

Lesa graduated from Battle Creek Central in the spring of 2000 and started college that fall. “I went to KCC for three years after high school, studying music and Spanish education,” Lesa noted. “I had wanted to be a music teacher since middle school. My middle school music teachers, Ms. Stewart and Mr. Waters, inspired me to want to teach music. I studied Spanish because my husband spoke mostly Spanish at this time, and I didn’t speak any Spanish. Both of us are now fluent in Spanish and English. He does have some thickness in his accent, but he is capable of communicating well in English.”

Lesa earned her associate's degree in both Spanish and music from KCC in 2003. She continued her education from there to pursue her teaching degree. “Music had been my passion for many years, and I wanted to share this passion with students,” Lesa reflected. “I wanted to be a choir instructor, and part of the process for being accepted to a college program to do this included a singing audition. This was a highly competitive process. I auditioned at Central Michigan and Western Michigan but didn’t get in.”  Lesa took a semester off from school and went to work full-time at Post Gardens. She needed some time to think about things. Although it didn’t look like being a choir instructor was going to work out, Lesa still wanted to be a teacher. “I went back to school, enrolling at Western Michigan in January of 2004 in the education department, majoring in Spanish and minoring in English. Four weeks later, I started working part-time at Springfield Middle School, working with Hispanic students who were struggling with the English language.” 

Working with Springfield Middle School’s Hispanic population helped to provide on-the-job application to the content she was learning in her classes at Western, but this wasn’t the only positive aspect of her new job. “It was neat to go back and work with some of my former middle school teachers,” Lesa said. She graduated from Western Michigan in 2007. She had to resign from her job at Springfield Middle School to complete her internship at Battle Creek Central High School. She finished her internship with her teaching certificate, ready to start her career. 

Lesa began her career in education in 2008 and spent the next decade gaining experience in various teaching roles across multiple school districts. There were many circumstances that were responsible for her playing musical chairs, moving from district to district. Still, she was able to take in valuable lessons from each assignment and eventually found a permanent home.  “In my first year out of college, I worked at Verona Elementary providing bilingual support,” Lesa commented. “I did this for one school year and then went to Albion to teach high school Spanish starting in 2008 for two years. I left Albion in 2010 and taught elementary Spanish in Maple Valley for the 2010/2011 school year. After one year at Maple Valley. I went back to Springfield Middle School as a bilingual support interventionist for the 2011/2012 school year. I continued to look for a teaching position while working as an interventionist at Springfield and accepted a job at Pennfield as a high school and middle school Spanish teacher starting in the fall of 2012 for two years. I left Pennfield after two years and accepted a job with Hastings Public High School for one year, teaching Spanish. Then I accepted a job with Jenison High School near Grand Rapids to teach Spanish. I was at Jenison for three years.”

After her three-year stint with Jenison High School, Lesa joined our team at Harper Creek. “I started teaching Spanish at Beadle Lake in 2018,” Lesa shared. “I appreciate that our elementary students here at Harper Creek are learning Spanish. Young children can grasp concepts related to learning a language. It makes sense to teach them a second language at a young age. My goal is for my students to learn Spanish, but also to create an atmosphere that accepts making mistakes and learning from them.”

Lesa draws on her music background as a Spanish teacher. “One of the things that helped me learn Spanish as a young adult was singing,” explained Lesa. “I try to incorporate music and singing into my lessons. I also use hand gestures as part of my teaching. My emphasis for teaching Spanish is the language component, and I also embed the cultural part of the curriculum into my lessons.”

One of Lesa’s goals is to provide enrichment opportunities outside of the classroom for learning. “We have taken our students from all three elementary buildings to the Hispanic Flamenco Ballet for the past few years, which has been paid for through a grant,” Lesa said. “This experience has inspired me as a teacher. We have hosted this event for a few years. Next year, it will be at the Kellogg Auditorium, with Harper Creek hosting it again. I’m hoping kids from other schools can go. It’s exciting for me to promote cultural equity for not just Harper Creek students but also students throughout Battle Creek and Calhoun County to have opportunities for these experiences.” 

Like many of our other teachers, Lesa has a child who is a student in our district. “My daughter Zuleyka is in second grade at Beadle Lake,” Lesa shared. “I love having her at school with me. We have signals for each other that we use when we see each other in the hallway. I feel she loves being with me at Beadle Lake. I am dreading when she goes to middle school.” Zuleyka was born when Lesa was 36. Lesa and Zuleyka’s father, Poli, met while working at Post Gardens when Lesa was in high school. They started dating and married six years later in 2004.

Lesa also started a second job, working part-time evenings, weekends, and summer vacations around the same time she started her teaching career. “I started working at the YMCA part-time, teaching swim lessons in 2006,” Lesa explained. “My sister, Leslie Fuller, started working at the YMCA in 2000. The YMCA needed lifeguards, and Leslie convinced me to apply to work there. She said that I could work part-time during the school year and pick up more hours during the summer. I started lifeguarding in 2007 and started mermaiding in 2018. I work events at different pools and lakes in the area as a mermaid. Currently, I teach water aerobics, group swim lessons, and private lessons for Hampton Aquatics at night, on weekends, and during the summer.” 

Lesa had always enjoyed being in the water during her childhood summers, spending time swimming on Eagle Lake and Lake Michigan. However, working as a lifeguard and swim instructor allowed her to develop a deeper love for being in the water. “I love swimming for the enrichment component,” she said. “Being in the water soothes my soul. It seems to naturally de-stress me. Whatever stress I have had is gone after teaching swim lessons.” Lesa has also worked part-time working as an interpreter for Voces, a community organization that provides services for the community. 

Lesa has experienced a major health scare over the last few years that has required time out of the classroom, giving her an appreciation for life. “I went in for a regular wellness exam in August of 2024,” she explained. “I had just turned forty-one, so I was told that I needed to do a routine mammogram. I previously had a mammogram in 2023, and the mammogram in 2024 showed a difference from the one in 2023, so I had to get a biopsy. I was officially diagnosed with breast cancer in November of 2024. I didn’t have to do radiation or chemo, but had surgery in January of 2025 to remove the tumor. Medical tests confirmed that  I had the BRCA 2 gene, so I also had to have a second surgery to have my ovaries and fallopian tubes removed in June. I had reconstructive surgery in December on my breast. One of the most difficult things for me with these surgeries is not being able to get in the water.” 

Lesa has had a positive impact on her students during her time at Beadle Lake while also providing inspiration for other staff. Co-worker Penney Durbin talked about the influence Lesa has had on her. “Despite facing the challenges of breast cancer and undergoing reconstructive surgery, Lesa has continued to inspire both her students and her colleagues. Lesa truly brings language learning to life for her students, orchestrating enriching field trips for grades one through twelve, including the upcoming Flamenco Ballet. Her efforts not only enhance their educational experience but also instill a love for learning in her students. What sets Lesa apart is her unwavering positivity and the genuine affection she shows for all the children she teaches. Lesa's dedication to providing the best education for students at Harper Creek Community Schools is exemplary.”

Penney’s kind words for Lesa truly illustrate that, as educators, we all have the opportunity to make a difference for our students, but also that our impact can go beyond our students. The guidance, mentorship, and inspiration we provide for our co-workers creates a ripple effect in how each of us has a positive impact on students.