Lynn Kalinauskas Wins Babbs Award
GPHC Leader Weighs In On Education, Philosophy And Life
By Cara DeGette, Editor, GPHN
Lynn Kalinauskas is a tireless champion for public schools. Her thoughtful, straightforward, and sometimes edgy contributions to the Greater Park Hill Newspaper reflect an understanding of the issues that affect public education that are both consistent and significant.
Kalinauskas was honored as this year’s recipient of the Babbs Award at last month’s Greater Park Hill Community, Inc., annual meeting. Last year’s Babbs award recipient, Heather Shockey, presented Kalinauskas with the award. Shockey highlighted many reasons why Kalinauskas – who for many years has been the education chair for GPHC and writes a monthly column on education issues – was selected. Most cited were her well-researched contributions that help the community understand issues that affect public education.
“Lynn makes a real, and positive difference to the residents of Greater Park Hill,” Shockey said.
Kalinauskas has lived in Park Hill with her family for almost 16 years. She shared additional thoughts about her past and what drives her, in a subsequent interview.
GPHN: Tell us about yourself.
Kalinauskas: I am Québécoise by birth and grew up in a bilingual household and city, Montreal. After graduating from college, I earned a scholarship to study in Beijing, China for two years. I learned so much while I was there, most of it outside the classroom. I traveled everywhere I could. My stay there came to an abrupt end when the 1989 Tian’anmen protests were violently suppressed by the government. Many friends were lost to the chaos though some have since been found through the power of social media.
I came to the U.S. to continue my education and obtained a PhD in Chinese literature from Yale University, where I met my future husband. We were apart for a couple of years while I taught in Alberta but we found our way back to each other and eventually to Denver. For the last 11 years, I’ve worked for the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia, an organization that promotes the teaching and learning about East Asia in elementary and secondary schools nationwide. I also teach Chinese civilization at UC Denver.
Out of our family of five, only two are U.S. born, one a Denver native! We are Canadian, British, Nepali and American and we live each of those parts in our own way, figuring it out along the way.
During the last couple of years, I have co-directed the Indian Nepalese Heritage Camp for Adoptive Families. The Heritage Camps organization was started more than 25 years ago by a Park Hill resident, Pam Sweetser, who still manages all its camps. They are a place where families come together to make connections, share experiences and better understand the culture of their children.
Home is so much more than a place. It’s about the relationships you make along the way and how they impact your life. I feel fortunate to be in Park Hill where the community has so many strong voices and is constantly striving to better itself. It is such a great place to live!
GPHN: What is your philosophy about public education and life in general?
Kalinauskas: I believe that education is a public good and a child’s right. It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that our children get the best education possible in a supportive, nurturing and positive environment, to make them good global citizens and to prepare them for life’s challenges. To this end, our approach should be far-reaching and include music, art, and physical education, not as add-ons but as central building blocks that connect our children to each other and the world in meaningful ways.
Education and community have long been interconnected. We need to think about how our choices shape, strengthen or weaken our communities and what the long-term ramifications of those choices are. Our lives are changing at such a rapid pace that it’s sometimes difficult to see the forest for the trees.
GPHN: How did you get involved in education issues and GPHC?
Kalinauskas: An issue that touched my child’s class brought me to the DPS Board of Education. It was a sobering experience that awakened me to the politicization of education in Denver. Later on, when my eldest attended Smiley Middle School, I became acutely aware of a power structure that gave little voice to a foreclosed community, a pattern I saw repeated in many parts of the city. Complicit silence was just not an option for me. I came to GPHC for advice and I found a community willing to listen and engage. In the process, I’ve learned so much about Park Hill, its history, its successes and challenges. I am so honored and humbled to receive the Babbs Award. There is much more work to be done, for sure.
GPHN: What advice do you have for every parent and non-parent on how to get involved in public education?
Kalinauskas: There are many local, state and national forces currently fighting over public education. It can be overwhelming. As a parent, start with your classroom and school and do not be afraid to ask questions. Know why your children are using a certain curriculum, taking a particular test, understand how your school is being funded and why it lacks funds.
In general, try to understand the forces behind the decisions that impact Denver’s schools. Learn how to read between the lines.
Most importantly, support your teachers. Their profession is under fire and they are working under increasingly difficult conditions. Teachers are on the frontlines of education and their work should be respected and valued.
The History Of The Babbs Award
The Babbs award honors Dr. J. Carlton Babbs, the former Park Hill United Methodist Pastor and founding member of the Park Hill Action Committee. Babbs was minister at Park Hill United Methodist Church from 1955 until his death in 1978. He helped organize the Park Hill Action Committee and was a key supporter of integration in Park Hill. On the same Sunday in May of 1956, all of the ministers in the community preached sermons on the need to eliminate all the barriers to church membership and housing on the basis of race, sex or national origin.
The Park Hill Action Committee, organized and sponsored by these churches, subsequently became Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. (GPHC). Historically, GPHC’s impact on integration, zoning, schools, justice and legislation for the community has been widely recognized. At the time of Babbs’ death, the clergy of Park Hill met and decided that a community service award in his memory would be a fitting tribute to one of the neighborhood’s outstanding leaders.
The following community members have received the Babbs Award in years past:
1980 – Robert Hickman
1981 – Helen B. Evans
1982 – Jules H. Mondschein
1983 – Marjorie Gilbert
1984 – Madeleine Hegarty
1985 – Issac and Marie White
1986 – Karen Saliman
1987 – Art and Bea Branscombe
1988 – John and Gladys Bates
1989 – Mary Ann McClain
1990 – Henry Turner
1991 – William R. “Bill” Turner
1992 – Gerald “Jerry” Kopel
1993 – Cynthia C. Kahn
1994 – Emmett F. Wallace
1995 – Liz Kreider
1996 – Patricia B. Clarke
1997 – Dr. Robbie Bean
1998 – Lewis and Bernice Watts
1999 – Algene and Odell Holleman
2000 – Richard Pickett
2001 – Ann Long
2002 – Marietta “Jo” Mosby
2003 – Sarah Lee Foster
2004 – Geneva Goldsby
2005 – Linda L. Elliott
2006 – Bob Homiak
2007 – Roz Wheeler-Bell
2008 – Roberta Locke
2009 – Lyle Hansen
2010 – Susan Schneider Homiak
2011 – Lynn Smith
2012 – Tracey MacDermott
2013 – Bernadette Kelly
2014 – Kate Sultan
2015 – Heather Shockey