April Owczarczak, Kenmore West High School Special Education Teacher

April Owczarczak is a Special Education teacher who began teaching at West in the fall of 2016 as a long-term sub. In her own words, after her first year at Kenmore West, “she knew she did not want to teach anywhere else”. April is dedicated to her students and equally dedicated to her school community. She has been on the Kenmore West Graduation committee for two years and has been head of the KW sunshine committee for 3 years. She is also the 8th grade co-advisor. Among many of her talents, April has the unique ability to always think outside the box. She is regularly coming up with different ways to make Kenmore West a better place for all! April’s hard work and fundraising efforts led to the birth of a very special event at Kenmore West called WESTFEST. This event was one of the best days in KW history. Students and staff hung out together for games, music, and other events to celebrate a successful school year. This event built better relationships and helped to build a more inclusive culture at West. On December 23rd of 2020, amidst a pandemic, April single handedly organized a parade down the street of every student at Kenmore West. She organized police and fire trucks to lead the lines, and staff followed in their decorated cars with messages for our students, some of whom teachers had not seen in 7 months. It was a proud moment for Kenmore West, and frankly, we owe that all to April. She truly deserves this honor! She is a wonderful person and remarkable educator. We at Kenmore West are very lucky to have her!