McKinley Park Civic Association Lauds Community, Award Winners at Annual Banquet

For the 51st time, the McKinley Park Civic Association celebrated the McKinley Park neighborhood and educator and community service award winners at its annual banquet, held on Sunday, April 21, 2024, in the hall of Blessed Sacrament Parish church.

Civic association President Agnes Bednarkiewicz, Vice President and Treasurer Sue Pletsch, Secretary Chris Bania and Education Officer Dr. Roy Pletsch helmed the proceedings and welcomed attendees, who enjoyed a buffet lunch served by volunteers from Evergreen Academy Middle School prior to the award ceremonies.

Educator of the Year award winners include Gina Burrows of Greene Elementary School, Mayra Jimenez of Namaste Charter School, Jinhua Lai-Bao of Evergreen Academy Middle School, Olivia Medina of Blessed Sacrament Parish's Religious Education Department and Joellen Zielazinski of Thomas Kelly College Preparatory High School.

Winners of the 2024 William H.G. Toms Community Service Award are Dr. Roy Pletsch and Justin Kerr, publisher of the McKinley Park News.

The awards pamphlet included biographies of the award winners, republished verbatim here:

Outstanding Educators of 2024

Mrs. Jinhau Lai-Bao is a Mandarin teacher at Evergreen Academy Middle School since 2009. She was born and raised in a small town in Southeast China's Fujian Province. She graduated from Fujian Normal University and taught ESL  at the College for Traditional Medicine in Fuzhou. In 2004 she moved to Chicago and was hired as a preschool teacher at a private school. In 2007, she became a Mandarin teacher for CPS.

She is the wife of Dongyu Bao, a bilingual teacher at Kelly College Prep. They have two children, Henry and Maggie. Mrs. Lai-Bao provides students with an interactive foreign language education integrated with cultural exploration. Her students have been able to advance in language, culture and ping-pong (her favorite) skills. Mrs. Jinhua Lai-Bao's American dream became a reality as she proudly became a citizen of the Unites States in 2023.

Gina Burrows was born and raised in Bridgeport and has lived on the South Side of Chicago her entire life. She and her husband, Steven, have three children, Joey, Jacalyn and Francesca.

After Graduating from St. Xavier University, she joined Greene School in the fall of 2020. She spent a number of years teaching 1st grade and Kindergarten, and has spent the last seven years teaching preschool. She has also been a part of the Green School LSC for over 13 years. Gina is in her 23rd year at Greene, and one of her greatest joys has been the opportunity to teach the children of many former students. Greene school and her students are like family to her. She enjoys coming to her school each day and plans on staying at Greene School until her retirement.

Mayra Jimenez grew up on the Southwest Side of Chicago with her siblings and has fond memories of the McKinley Park community, from being at camp in McKinley Park and visiting her grandpa's mechanic shop. Her teaching career began in the Back of the Yards, tutoring English Language Learners in an after-school program supported by Holy Cross Church.

After several years as a teacher assistant and teaching in South Korea, she received her teaching degree in 2015. She began teaching at Namaste in 2017. She has established strong relationships with her students' families by teaching siblings year after year in 4th grade. Mayra has completed a Master's Degree in Dual Language Teacher Leadership. She has the privilege to come to work every day and be a positive light for the future of this community.

Olivia Medina was born in Guanajuato, Mexico, and has lived in Chicago for 30 years. She has lived with her husband, Deacon Francisco, their four children and three grand-children since 1996. During this time, she has dedicated herself to the service of Our Lord. She went to St. Mary of Lake University to study her faith.

Olivia became a certified Catechist in 2011. She also studied Pastoral Leadership and graduated in 2015. Olivia also studied Pastoral Ministry, the diaconate program with her husband in 2022. Since receiving her certification, she has dedicated herself to educating children of different ages in our faith. She has the satisfaction of earning the love and trust of the children in the community. She thanks God for choosing her for this ministry, which she enjoys at Blessed Sacrament Parish.

Joellen Zielazinski has had a passion for teaching even as a child playing with her Barbie dolls, who took on the roles of teachers and students. Mathematics fascinated her, and she wanted to share that passion through teaching. She has been an integral member of Kelly High School since 1991. She has held various roles, including serving as a dedicated bilingual teacher, Technology Coordinator and Business Manager. In 1995 she earned her bilingual and ESL certifications followed by her Administrative certification in 2002.

Affectionately known as "Ms. Z" by her students and colleagues, she continues to leave a lasting impact on those she encounters. Many former students fondly invite Ms. Z to their weddings and other events. Some of her former students have become her colleagues at Kelly, a reflection of the profound impression she has left on their lives. Throughout her 33 years at Kelly, she has been a driving force in the transformation of Kelly College Prep, serving as catalyst for change and student advocacy.

William H.G. Toms Community Service Award Winners

Justin Kerr is the publisher of the McKinley Park News, an online news outlet that since 2016 has served the McKinley Park neighborhood from its website at https://mckinleypark.news with original news reporting, a comprehensive calendar of events, memberships, subscriber features and advertising and sponsor services.

Since its launch, the McKinley Park News has published nearly 1,000 original local news articles and tens of thousands of event listings while supporting dozens of local organizations, non-profits and government offices through its free Institutions program. The McKinley Park News is a member of the McKinley Park Underage Drinking and Other Substance Abuse Coalition (McK-UDOS) and LION Publishers, and most recently executive produced the first-ever Chicago's Birthday Party event at the Geographic Center of Chicago.

Justin has worked continually as a professional journalist and publisher since graduating from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism in 1993, including starting up one of the first online newspapers in the U.S. in 1994, working for Tribune Media Services and Tribune Interactive, and leading a 501(c)(3) non-profit Chicago arts magazine as its executive director.

Justin has been a resident of McKinley Park since 2008 and of Chicago's Southwest Side since 1996. He was a founding member of the McKinley Park Development Council and volunteered as director on its board for four years, bringing the first federally funded grant program in living memory to the neighborhood. He and his wife, Queenie Chong, are currently finishing rehabilitation of their "forever home" in McKinley Park to reside there with their 12-year-old son, Foster.

Dr. Roy J. Pletsch was raised in the Back of the Yards and Bridgeport. He has lived in the McKinley Park community since marrying his wife, Suzanne, in 1970. Roy was a teacher in both Catholic and CPS schools, retiring twice, in 2010 from CPS and in 2013 from St. Paul/Our Lady of Vilna. He taught and coached at St. Joseph High School from 1970-1976, after which he taught in various CPS schools. He was principal of Sor Juan De La Cruz Middle School, later moving to Nightingale School.

Roy and his wife have two children, Joe and Beth. He is past vice-president and president of the McKinley Park Civic Association and currently serves as educational officer for the organization. He initiated the Educator Awards for MPCA in 1990 after receiving an award, while teaching at Davis School from Congressman Lipinski.

Roy and his family are members of Blessed Sacrament Parish, where he served on the Parish Council. He is a member of the Pro-Life committee. He is a docent at The Field Museum. Roy and Suzanne coordinate an annual prayer service for the unborn at St. Mary Cemetery. He also is a member of AMAC, a conservative organization for Seniors.