Washington – A Denver Public Schools teacher who describes education as a “divine calling” was honored Tuesday with a $100,000 national award.
Linda Alston, a kindergarten teacher at Fairview Elementary School, has won the first Kinder Excellence in Teaching Award, created to recognize an outstanding public-school instructor who teaches in a low-income community.
The grant, donated by philanthropists Nancy and Rich Kinder of Houston, is the largest unrestricted award ever given to a K-12 teacher, program officials say.
“This is a dream come true,” Alston said after hugging U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings at an award ceremony. “The finalists were all amazing. I’m not sure how they picked me.”
What will she do with the prize? “I can now afford to buy a bunch of orange geraniums and travel to Martha’s Vineyard to see Carly Simon in concert,” she said.
The California-based KIPP Foundation administered the award, which was reserved for teachers working in schools where more than 50 percent of the students receive subsidized federal lunches. At Fairview, more than 90 percent meet that standard.
Alston was one of more than 400 teachers nominated nationwide by colleagues and former students who wrote 750-word essays in support of their nominees.
KIPP stands for the Knowledge Is Power Program. According to Mike Feinberg of the KIPP Foundation, Alston stood out on paper. Her students exceeded by an average of 400 percent Denver Public Schools standards for kindergarten-level reading and writing, Feinberg said.
Alston, who has been teaching in the district since 1989, said the secret to her success is that she loves what she does.
“It’s a divine calling,” she said, adding that she emphasizes development of the whole person in the classroom, rather than just numbers and words. “I teach them to respect each other and work together.”
The KIPP Foundation has yet to determine whether the award will be offered next year, but Catherine North, director of the award program, said officials hope to because it’s important to convey the message that teachers are underpaid. The average teacher salary in the United States is $46,597, according to the American Federation of Teachers.
Alston said she is humbled by the attention.
“There are so many great teachers out there, working hard every day,” she said. “It is the children that make me look good.”
Staff writer Christa Marshall can be reached at cmarshall@denverpost.com.
