Islip High School graduate and current University of Scranton student Shannon McKenna and Islip teacher Mike Reilly were recently honored with the Rose Kelly Award for the university’s Kania School of Management.
The award was established by Scranton alumnus Joseph Wineburgh to link the efforts of educators to the achievements of college students, and is presented jointly to a student in each of the three Scranton undergraduate colleges who has demonstrated exemplary achievement in both academics and general campus involvement, and to the teacher who the student recognizes as having had a great impact on his or her life.
McKenna and Reilly were recognized by Kania School of Management Associate Dean Murli Rajan at a Dec. 2 ceremony at the university’s Weinberg Memorial Library, hosted by the school’s highest-ranking professors. McKenna spoke about being inspired by Reilly, and presented him with the award on behalf of the university.
“It was truly a moving moment for me after Shannon finished her speech about how I have impacted her both in the classroom and in life,” said Reilly. “This is a great honor and one that I will cherish always. I received this award for inspiring Shannon, but I believe it is the other way around. It is the students – and certainly a student-athlete like Shannon – who inspire me.”
McKenna, an accounting major with a minor in mathematics, serves as the vice president of Scranton’s Student Athletic Advisory Committee, as well as participating in the Business Club and the Society of Accounting Students. She is a member of Alpha Lambda Delta (the freshman honor society) and Omega Beta Sigma (the women’s business honor society). In 2014, she received Scranton’s Frank O’Hara medal, awarded to the first-, second- and third-year students with the highest grade point averages in the each Scranton undergraduate college.