California High School -2010 Winner
Mr. Kinavey has been a teacher for over 35 years. He currently teaches at California High School in San Ramon.
Mr. Kinavey serves as the advisor to the National Honor’s Society for students with a 3.5 GPA or higher. In addition, he challenges these gifted students to give something back to the school community. Under his guidance, students have developed a free SAT tutoring program for kids whose parents cannot afford to pay for a SAT preparation class. The students also provide regular and intensive tutoring of their peers in a variety of disciplines.
Mr. Kinavey’s PTA president said “He not only teaches the ‘whole individual’ but he teaches the soul of the person, digging down deep with each student finding that place in each one that produces thought and insight, not only into themselves but into their community and the world around them.”
Mr. Kinavey also seeks to improve the school as an institution. For three years, he participated in a state-funded Professional Consortium at Mills College. In conjunction with teachers from other school districts, participants learned to drive school change, especially at the local level, through solid research-based data. The final paper was published nationally, and it spawned a movement to change Cal High’s traditional daily structure to a block schedule based on the published research.
Mr. Kinavey’s dedication to teaching has had long-lasting effects on his students. One former student said:
“Mr. Kinavey was easily amongst the most important influences in my life. No single thing, event, or person will ever be able to replace him.”