Stephen Babbitt (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBabbitt is no stranger to the district and has been volunteering at elementary and middle schools within LMSVSD for more than 14 years. He and his wife Tammie, a longtime schoolteacher within the district, have three children, one with special needs, who also attend schools within the district.<\/p>\n
In addition to the educational volunteering he\u2019s done, Babbitt\u2019s list of other public service positions is just as long. This visibility no doubt helped cement his selection.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Steve Babbitt] has volunteered in the district before, was currently serving as president of the Citizen’s Bond Oversight committee, and also attended some of our board meetings occasionally,\u201d said Turner, a board member since 2006, a past president and currently serving as board clerk.\u00a0\u201cHis interest in the district prior to applying for the seat helped make him stand out, along with his dedication to children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Babbitt, who received a bachelor\u2019s degree in literature, journalism and modern language from Point Loma Nazarene University and a master\u2019s in theology at Bethel Theological Seminary in San Diego, is lead pastor of Spring Valley Community Church. To make ends meet, Babbitt runs his own web development business during the week and attends to ministerial duties in the evenings and on weekends.<\/p>\n
One has to wonder where he finds the time to do all that he\u2019s gathered on his plate.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne, people who are busy tend to get things done,\u201d Babbitt said, referring to his constant schedule. \u201cPlus, I have a great desire to make a difference with my life and make my life count for something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Babbitt\u2019s 12-year-old son has an advanced case of cystic fibrosis, a genetic and life-shortening disorder that has created both challenges and lifetime lessons for the family.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a very strange way, I wouldn\u2019t want to call it a good thing, but one of the good things that\u2019s come out of his disease is our family has learned to look at life totally differently,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have the perspective of the idea that the clock is ticking and to make every moment count. So we volunteer a lot<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\nBabbitt pointed out that after his son left the hospital on a recent visit, his whole family went to Ronald McDonald House to help feed the families and the ill-stricken children there.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to instill in our kids a sense that your life has a purpose and you should be doing something with it,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd let\u2019s figure out what are you good at. From a pastoral point of view, God made you for a reason. What\u2019s the reason God wants you here? We try to encourage that with everyone we know.\u201d<\/p>\n
The New Mexico native was raised Catholic in a small mining town. After Confirmation, he had almost given up on his belief in the existence of God when he began hanging out with a friend\u2019s youth group associated with the local Nazarene church. When planning for college, he said he saw the brochure for PLNU and never looked back. It was there he met his wife.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe country bumpkin in me would love to live in the middle of nowhere \u2014 but I\u2019ve grown to love San Diego, especially East County,\u201d he said, after admitting he and his wife lived at the beach for several years before making the move east. \u201cWhat I\u2019ve noticed is the sun is always shining out in East County \u2014 there\u2019s no June gloom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Babbitt said he is well aware that his background may raise the eyebrows of some parents and he wants to set their minds at ease.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure one of the concerns people may have about me, because I\u2019m a minister, is that it might be this kind of idea of \u2018God and Country,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cBut I know my history and I know my theology and I am a firm believer in separation of church and state. I don\u2019t think the state should be telling us what to believe, and it\u2019s not the schools\u2019 job to push religion \u2014 any religion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s okay to believe, you should believe something, but the bottom line is, we have to respect each other for our beliefs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Over the years, Babbitt\u2019s experiences have given him a soft spot for the disadvantaged, families in the lower economic income brackets and kids at risk. A statement he made on his application addressed this.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 the reality is that some students arrive each day ready to learn, while others arrive with deep emotional, physical, social and developmental challenges \u2026 steps should continue to mitigate these challenges so that all students have the opportunity to learn to the best of their potential.\u201d<\/p>\n
Expanding upon this idea in an interview, he pointed to a value system he\u2019s become aware of through working with kids and families within the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are pockets of not just temporary poverty but generational poverty in Spring Valley, La Mesa and even Mount Helix,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not like dad lost his job and they are in between jobs for a couple years, but where it\u2019s a value system of poverty. Temporary poverty is definitely a challenge but people find ways to get out of that; generational poverty has real challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the school can provide a safe and neutral environment, he feels issues remain that can hamper education. He noted that while today\u2019s children seem to be more aware and accepting of people for who they are and overt aspects of discrimination are no longer tolerated by most children, he still sees kids coming to school with nutritional problems and lacking rules.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlaming Hot Cheetos are treated as a food group,\u201d he said. \u201cThese kids come to school eating poorly and for a lot of them, bed time is not even a concept. I know it sounds sort of \u2018polyanna-ish,\u2019 but if a kid is up until 2 a.m. every night, there is no way they are going to be ready for school at 8 a.m.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another one of his concerns is the size of school classrooms since the budget crisis, but there are other cuts that need to be addressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs funding comes back, I think the big challenge is to wisely say let\u2019s not restore it to the way it was, let\u2019s really be thoughtful,\u201d he said. \u201cI think everybody agrees restoring smaller class sizes is a no brainer; but should we restore every program the way it was? Maybe some things need to be reconsidered. Sometimes pruning, even though it is a painful process, can be helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though politics is not even close to one of things he aspires to, Babbitt feels he was called to make a difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt qualified for the opening and was encouraged by some people who I really trust and they felt that I could be helpful there,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m a sucker if someone says I can be helpful.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have the rare perspective of being a parent, a member of a teaching family, a longtime volunteer \u2014 I\u2019ve seen a lot of angles to the district, and while there may be a few things that need tightening up and some things that need some loosening up, overall I think we are really very fortunate to have a district that is as transparent as it is and really thoughtful as it is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goal really is to be listening and be a good servant, be attentive and watch,\u201d he continued. \u201cTo be available and speak when necessary, but most of the time, just champion our school district. We have a great district.\u201d<\/p>\n
The final sentence of his application may sum it up best: \u201cAs a father of three LMSVSD students, the stakes for me could not be higher. I am all in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Reach Morgan M. Hurley at <\/em>morgan@sdcnn.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Morgan M. Hurley | Editor colaborador<\/p>","protected":false},"author":753,"featured_media":221851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11548","_seopress_titles_title":"He\u2019s \u2018all in\u2019","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11548,11551,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-223266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-la-mesa-courier","category-news","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/753"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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