From the very start of the pandemic, we knew disrupted learning would create widespread inequities and learning gaps. We made sure to include supplemental instruction in the launch of our Critical Needs Fund to make sure we could fund opportunities for K-12 students to access additional instruction to catch up on learning they might miss.

This spring, we funded over 10,000 hours of supplemental instruction, providing opportunities for students to receive academic support and additional instruction after school and on Mondays as well as access to ACT/SAT preparatory courses. 

This summer, we are turning our attention to supporting the elementary and the middle school students whose skill levels in core classes are below grade level as well as high school students who need to recover credits they did not pass or did not complete. Doing the learning now will lead to higher growth and achievement in the fall.

Summer learning opportunities

While schools are closed for the summer, many BVSD students are still engaged in learning. The Boulder Valley School District kicked off its Summer Learning program this week for rising 1st graders through 9th grade students. 

With over 1,200 students enrolled, 160 of them, about 15%, are able to attend only because Impact on Education funded before and after child care. This allows all students, regardless of family income, the opportunity to receive safe, supplemental instruction, technology, and curriculum on their grade level.

In addition to summer learning, nearly 1,800 students are making up high school credits this summer, at no cost to them. Any student needing to retake a failed or incomplete course may sign up to take credit recovery courses this summer. While fees to retake high school classes typically cost between $50-$300, Impact on Education is funding all credit recovery courses for BVSD high school students this year with dollars from our Critical Needs Fund. 

Looking ahead

The academic support being offered this summer is designed to help ensure students start the 2021-22 school year on grade level. Work is underway to ensure we meet student needs when school resumes in August and throughout the school year, too. Keep an eye out for our blog or sign up for our e-newsletter for more updates about the ways we are supporting local students.

“As students, we have to start asking the really important question of who’s making the decisions for us.”

Marta Loachamin

What I Know Now: Marta Loachamin, Boulder County Commissioner

Marta Loachamin was elected to the Board of County Commissioners in 2020 and is the first Latina to hold the office in Boulder County. Marta is a long-time Longmont resident who has worked for social, economic, and housing justice by building opportunities for families throughout Boulder County and the Front Range.

Audrey and Bella from our Student Advisory Board joined Marta for a virtual interview in which you’ll learn:

• How her experiences as a student and former educator helped her find both confidence and success. 
• How she connects the dots between student experiences in our community and local government.
• Why she influences and campaigns for diversity and advises our students to do the same.

About Marta Loachamin

Marta was elected to the Board of County Commissioners in 2020, with a term continuing through January 2025, representing District 2. More about Marta >>

About the Student Advisory Board

Our Student Advisory Board (SAB) is a collaborative leadership experience for Boulder Valley School District high school students. The SAB brings together students enrolled in Boulder Valley’s 13 high schools to share their perspectives in order to advise Impact on Education’s initiatives and guide our investments. More about the SAB >>

“Sometimes, when something truly surprising happens, it feels like it lasts a long time, even if it really doesn’t.”

Marcel the Shell: The Most Surprised I’ve Ever Been

BVSD Superintendent’s Honor Roll

Boulder Valley School District recently gathered district leaders and representatives from different teams throughout the district to share their stories about the biggest pandemic initiatives during a special Superintendent’s Honor Roll. Superintendent Dr. Rob Anderson recognized Impact on Education for our service to the BVSD community during the pandemic.

Our job is to make sure student needs are met. Whether those needs are inside or outside of the classroom, we work with BVSD to identify student needs and then turn to our community to find the resources to help. This year, we worked tirelessly to ensure students had food, internet, and school supplies, and now we’re focused on helping students access supplemental learning opportunities.

IOE awarded for outstanding dedication

Fast forward to 1:33:57 in the video below to see our Executive Director, Allison Billings, take the stage and accept our award “for outstanding service to the students, staff and community in the Boulder Valley School District.”

Read more about how we met critical needs during the pandemic.

We’re excited to share that we have awarded up to $24,000 in scholarships to three graduating high school seniors. Applications were reviewed by a group of trained community volunteers, and student winners were selected based upon their academic achievement, financial need, and other eligibility requirements.

“From the number of applications we received for both scholarships to the strength and accomplishments of the applicants, this year highlights both students’ incredible drive to pursue their post-secondary education and goals as well as the deep need for post-secondary resources.”

Jen Biegen, IOE Program Coordinator

Our new Earl & Barbara Bolton Scholarship, is awarded from a $500,000 endowment left to Impact on Education by its namesake. The couple grew up in Boulder County, attended Boulder Valley public schools, and were well known in the community for their love of aviation, history, education, and travel. The scholarship is intended for students planning to study engineering, forestry, nursing, or medicine in the state of Colorado.

Earl & Barbara Bolton Scholarship

The $5,000 Earl & Barbara Bolton Scholarship was awarded to Shannon Blanco, a senior at Monarch High School. Shannon plans to pursue biomedical engineering & the Business Engineering Tech Program at CU-Boulder in the fall. This scholarship award is renewable for up to four years, with the potential to fund $20,000 of Shannon’s college expenses.

“On my service trips and volunteering in my community, I have seen the disparity of medical resources for under-served populations [which has] inspired me to look deeper into people’s access to medical equipment and aid. My overall goal is to transform the accuracy and efficiency of medical equipment to provide more accessible medical aid to those in need, specifically in struggling socio-economic communities and developing countries.”

Shannon Blanco, Senior at Monarch High School

Dennie & Donna Wise Scholarship

One of Impact on Education’s longtime scholarships, the Dennie and Donna Wise Scholarship, was endowed by a former board member to support up to two students a year planning to pursue a vocational, technical, or community college education. 

A $1,000 scholarship was awarded to Maria Garcia Diaz, a senior at Fairview High School and to Rodrigo Marquez, a senior at Boulder High School. Maria plans to pursue child psychology at Front Range Community College in the fall, and Rodrigo plans to pursue law enforcement also at Front Range Community College. This scholarship award is renewable for up to two years, funding a total of $2,000 of each recipient’s college tuition. 

“My goals are to make my parents proud as well as myself…I want to become a child psychologist. I have the opportunity to work in a field where I’m able to not only help others but make other people feel heard. I’m able to use my own life experiences to better understand others and help them know that they’re not alone.”

Maria Garcia Diaz, Senior at Fairview High School

“Since I was a child, my dream has been to become a police officer and help my community, especially the Latino community, my family, and friends. I want to help make changes that can help solve problems, and my goals have been influenced by my parents.”

Rodrigo Marquez, Senior at Boulder High School

We offer these scholarships to support Boulder Valley students in financial need who wish to pursue higher education. We’re able to provide this type of important financial support thanks to generous bequests left to the organization from local community members. If you’d like to discuss opportunities for planned giving, including bequests, gifts from a retirement account, charitable trust, or real estate, please contact darcy@impactoneducation.org.

Thanks to a new partnership with the Arly Kruse Educational Foundation, Impact on Education is facilitating an additional $30,000 investment to catch up groups of elementary students at two BVSD schools with targeted academic tutoring this spring. This tutoring is part of the broader catch-up plan, offering supplemental learning opportunities to high needs students experiencing academic setbacks due to the pandemic. 

Literacy and math tutoring

Alicia Sanchez Elementary School and Escuela Bilingüe Pioneer Elementary, both in Lafayette, identified students in need of tutoring using literacy and math assessment data as well as teacher recommendations. 

“This is fantastic! Thank you so much for advocating for our students. Their parents are so grateful for and supportive of the opportunity.” 

Anabel Rafoul, Assistant Principal of Escuela Bilingue Pioneer Elementary

Targeted tutoring is now in place for 44 high needs elementary school students. Students at both schools receive two hours of tutoring per week in literacy, math, or both, to improve their academic skills and future success. Teachers are already seeing the growth and are reporting increased student confidence as well as noticeable improvement, specifically in reading. 

About the Arly Kruse Foundation

The Arly Kruse Educational Foundation aims to enhance the education of children from diverse backgrounds through academic support and tutoring free of cost to Boulder Valley School District families.

The Foundation’s namesake was a retired teacher with a belief in the power of tutoring. Her husband and organizational Founder, Jack Kruse, shared, “We’re thrilled to be able to partner with Impact on Education to provide supplemental and targeted literacy instruction to students in need.” 

As the Foundation for Boulder Valley’s public schools, Impact on Education was uniquely positioned to identify schools with specific needs and partner with the Arly Kruse Educational Foundation to bring those resources to the students who needed them most. We are so grateful to be able to provide high quality supplemental instruction to students whose learning has been disrupted.

We’re offering a forum for our Student Advisory Board members to share their voice through guest blog posts. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Impact on Education.

Reflecting on the Centaurus High School Lockdown

By James Clemson

On Wednesday, March 3, 2021, just before 10 a.m, Centaurus High School went into lockdown after a teacher thought they heard gunshots fired within the school. The school was in lockdown for roughly 3 hours while police searched the building before, thankfully, it was declared a false alarm. Afterward, Centaurus returned to normal operations. 

The swift response of multiple police departments demonstrated BVSD’s good planning and the dedication of our local law enforcement to keeping kids safe. However, the emotional aftermath of such an event highlights some areas for improvement.

One student perspective

As a Centaurus student myself, I have friends and family who were in the building at the time of the lockdown, although I was fortunately learning remotely at the time. 

One 9th grade student I know was outside the building, studying with friends, when the report came in. Her first impression that something was very wrong came when a police woman pulled up with a large gun and talked to a staff member outside. The staff member then yelled at the students to “RUN!” She and her friends ran to a nearby gas station, unsure where to go or what was happening. She admitted that it was mostly adrenaline that kept her moving and a sense that the decisions she made could very much be life or death. Arriving at a friend’s house, they reached out to family and peers in the building and over the course of an hour and a half, started to learn what had been going on at the school. 

After Centaurus announced that they would be returning to normal activities, this student and her friends returned, still understandably distraught. Classes were half empty, and in those that remained, teachers and students didn’t talk about the events of the morning. She said it felt like a sort of group denial. Personally shaken, she felt the need to work through her feelings before she could return to her classes. Although trauma counselors had been made available, information on when and where to seek these resources was scarce, and announcements that it was ok to leave school if that was needed were late in coming. All in all, this student felt that Centaurus’s emotional and trauma support was “too little too late”.

Better guidance

In an age where school shootings are an all too common possibility, and especially in light of the recent mass shooting at the King Soopers in Boulder, it is important to have a plan. The events on March 3rd demonstrated the strength of BVSD’s lockdown procedure but also made clear some weaknesses, and it is important to learn from this experience to make students feel as safe as possible in their schools. 

As this 9th grader pointed out, she would have known what to do, were she in the classroom, thanks to numerous drills. But outside, with her only direction being “RUN,” she was left largely on her own to make decisions that could have meant life or death. Better guidance on safe spaces near a school, and how to get to them, would have been very helpful, according to this student. Furthermore, the actual event is not the whole issue. 

Emotional support

The emotional fallout requires better guidance and communication from the school. BVSD has many exceptional mental health resources, as a district and through partnerships with the community. Beyond school counselors, which form the backbone of BVSD’s student support systems, community partnerships with Mental Health Walk in Crisis Clinc, Colorado Crisis Services, Community Reach Center, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and Mental Health Partners are all intended to provide needed mental health services. 

While these are important and impactful, it is also vital that information about how to access them, as well as more traditional school counselors, is made readily available, so that students can easily find the support they need. This should be done in a clear, direct manner, be it through the PA system, teachers, or whatever other method is deemed most effective at reaching students. 

Events like these can not be ignored; they must be acknowledged. Even if it was a false alarm, the experiences and emotions of those involved are very, very real, and should be addressed as such. I hope BVSD takes the events of March 3 as a chance to reflect and improve and make school safer and more supportive for everyone.

Alenka Žnidaršič started volunteering with Impact on Education over two years ago after volunteering with her son’s school. She first helped review grant applications before becoming more involved with our fundraising and events. 

Originally from Slovenia, Alenka received a Masters in Information Technology before obtaining her PhD in electro-technical engineering from the University of Ljubljana. She started working with artificial intelligence (AI) technology and became fascinated by the connection between people and technology.

Through her education and travels, Alenka learned four languages and is quadrilingual, speaking Dutch, English, German and Slovenian. She moved to Colorado 10 years ago alongside her husband and son. Her son was 5 when they moved which gave Alenka the opportunity to volunteer in his classroom during his early education.

Why she values education

During her own early education in Slovenia, Alenka’s school placed great emphasis on developing critical thinking skills and an appreciation for others’ differences. The latter was not something she saw being valued in the U.S. education system and one of the reasons she is so passionate about early childhood education. She would like to bring some of the values from her home country to help improve education in the U.S., particularly the awareness and acceptance of differences and diverse identities. 

Alenka’s family was another element that drove her commitment to education. Coming from a family of educators, she started helping out in her mother’s classroom as a child. She says, “technology has my heart, but teaching is a close second.” After obtaining her degrees, she taught computer science to elementary school students. She also mentored children through the Scouts of Slovenia, helping to foster a curious learning environment.

“Technology has my heart, but teaching is a close second.”

Alenka Žnidaršič

Her work with Impact on Education

Alenka first started volunteering with us two years ago, helping review applications for our Classroom Innovation Grants. These awards go to BVSD teachers focusing on instructional innovation to enhance student learning in the classroom. She loves watching these applications turn into classroom innovations. 

In addition to the grant reviews, she now supports our Fundraising & Special Events Committee, helping our staff plan and orchestrate events. Alenka’s educational and career focus of bringing people together through technology is especially helpful during the COVID-19 pandemic, where we’ve seen a heightened need for virtual events and interactions.

A love for adventure

Outside of her work as a leadership development coach and volunteering, Alenka is passionate about spending time outside. She particularly enjoys skiing, hiking, climbing and kayaking. Alenka and her family love traveling and have an appreciation for meeting people from and experiencing different cultures and perspectives. With the pandemic making traveling more difficult, they’re enjoying playing strategic and collaborative family games, such as Settlers of Catan.

Premier Members Credit Union is passionate about supporting education in our community. Growing from a small financial institution serving teachers in the Boulder Valley School District, to one that serves tens of thousands of members throughout Colorado and nationwide, they recognize the importance of financial literacy and responsibility as a critical educational tool.

Bringing banking to high schools

In 2009, PMCU partnered with Boulder High School to open the Panther Student Credit Union. Their partnership offered unique and valuable hands-on learning experiences for students to dip their toes into the world of finance and business. After the initial success of the Panther Student Credit Union, Premier Members created similar programs in three other high schools in the Boulder Valley School District. In 2010, Fairview High School launched the Knight Student Credit Union, and Monarch High School launched the Coyote Student Credit Union, while Centaurus High School opened the Warrior Student Credit Union in 2011. Each of these credit unions are primarily student run with oversight from Premier Members’ team members.

The student experience

High school students are recruited in the spring to work at their school’s respective credit union for the following academic year. After completing two training sessions at a Premier Members branch during the summer, students are equipped with the skills needed to run their school’s credit union. Each student receives similar training to the professional tellers in Premier Members’ branches.

“Promoting financial literacy, and operating the high school branches exemplifies Premier Members’ commitment to building lasting relationships that strengthen the communities that we serve. Providing educational opportunities and supporting the financial literacy of our youth is a staple of the “Premier” experience.”

Susan Finesilver, AVP Community Relations at Premier Members Credit Union

While school is in session full-time, students working at their school branches are well-equipped to independently operate the credit union. Students are responsible for setting up daily, managing the cash box, helping members and prospective members with their accounts, and working with confidential information. Student interns receive both an hourly wage and elective business credits throughout the school year.

Real-world financial skills

Each student working at a student credit union engages with real-world personal finance situations during their high school experience, allowing them to build financial literacy in a safe and structured environment.

All student members develop money management skills and come to understand the importance of saving for the future. They gain experience managing their own debit card and checking account and finding appropriate ways to establish and maintain good credit for future use. Not only do student interns successfully learn financial management skills, they experience committing to a position for an extended period of time. The students get to experience being professional and working with a business in a structured and secure environment. They develop unique cash handling skills as they deposit money into different accounts with larger transactions while keeping member information confidential. In addition to the cash handling skills, students learn and use other bank teller skills, as well.

“The student interns are learning critical skills that are applicable to anyone, not just those interested in finance.”

Steve Carr, Student Branch Liaison at Premier Members Credit Union

This is a rigorous program that both requires and instills student commitment and responsibility. Students leave the program with a toolkit full of self-initiative, responsibility, and critical financial and business skills. While it is not required, students often stay with the credit union until they graduate, and train younger students for their position.

The next step for Premier Members’ student credit unions

When schools shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic, the four student-run credit unions were forced to temporarily close as well. Premier Members is exploring ways to relaunch the program amidst our new high school environments.

We’re offering a forum for our Student Advisory Board members to share their voice through guest blog posts. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Impact on Education.

A Teenager’s Journey to Connect Through Letter Writing

By Emery Jansen

The past year has been horrific in countless ways; tragedies hit all communities one after the other, and it has been challenging to keep ourselves afloat. In the beginning, there was an aura of surrealism that encapsulated everyone. It was an enjoyable kind of unprecedented fun even. No one we knew had COVID in those first few weeks when everyone learned how to make double- and triple-layered masks; it was just an extended spring break and a hefty dose of dysregulation. Signs reading, “We will get through this together,” and “This too shall pass,” littered our cities and social media feeds. Unfortunately though, those days of pandemic glory wore off quickly; this still has not passed. The past year has been one of distance and each-man-for-himself sentiments; more than 12 months in and some self-entitled citizens still refuse to consider someone, anyone, other than themselves. 

Despite these collective grievances and our own individual sufferings, not everything was negative. In March of 2020, I found myself grappling with the loss of my life as I knew it, as all of us did. Everything was unknown, and I spiraled as the uncertainties around me swept me up with them. As a member of the generation deemed conceited and overly-absorbed in the online world, I sat in a resounding inability to feel, to connect, to do anything other than simply survive. I’m sure many of my peers can attest to this: even those who weren’t textbook-compliant with the various COVID mandates and were still socializing felt the shift. By chance, I came upon an opportunity to keep myself afloat and, as I found out later, cultivate intimate relationships with those who compose my world.

My letter-writing empire began on March 29, 2020, when a friend of mine got an envelope in the mail, covered in haphazard, pen-drawn hearts. It was sent by one of their friends wanting to bring a smile to the faces around her. I contemplated this occurrence for a while, realizing just how grateful I would be and important I would feel if someone did the same for me, even with simple communication. So, I determinedly drafted a list of 13 people to write to, pen on paper, a stamp in the upper-righthand corner, the whole lost art of letter writing. I wrote my favorite memories I shared with each person, lamented about what I would miss the most about them in our time apart during lockdown (unfortunately, I am still missing these traits of the people I love). I asked them questions about what we would typically be discussing in-person. Twelve out of those original 13 letters arrived at their destinations, the vast majority bound for friends and teammates, though two meandered their way to Wisconsin with my cousins’ names on them. The last was vacuumed into the space-time continuum and still hasn’t been delivered.

Now, almost exactly one year since I wrote my first letters, I have sent and received over 200 letters, with a group of people who have morphed only slightly since 12 months ago. I wrote letters to my best friend daily, passed a travel-destination list back and forth with other friends, traded music suggestions, laughed at terribly embarrassing anecdotes, stared in wonderment at my friends’ calligraphy talent, became acquainted with my aunt as the human she is, reconnected with a middle school friend to support her through intense tragedy, tantalizingly listed the most arbitrary tidbits about myself, learned more about friends I’ve made recently, and, most regrettably, stamped and sent an unfortunately colorful letter to my crush at the time. I wish I were kidding on the last one. However, all the others sent me running to the mailbox almost daily in hopes that I would find a response waiting for me. This may sound cheesy, a 16-year-old writing letters to stay connected when there are virtual ways to communicate instantly, but I have found this lost art to be the epitome of what I need right now: an unmatched opportunity to express myself creatively, encouragement to stay patient, and finally, an ability to ground myself in the present and in found moments to forget the world’s realities of the past year.

About the author

Emery Jansen is a junior at Fairview High School and a member of our Student Advisory Board. She is passionate about all things creative–including embroidery, photography, drawing, writing, and running her own business. Emery is also a vehement advocate for social justice and mental health awareness, valuing the connections she holds with those around her more than everything else in her life.

When the COVID-19 pandemic required schools to close, we jumped into action, raising more than $600,000 to meet the critical needs of students, families, and schools in the Boulder Valley School District.

One year later, we’re sharing an update on how our Critical Needs Fund and Student Academic Support Fund addressed vital needs for our students including food security, the digital divide, and supplemental learning. We are proud of the work we’ve accomplished and hope you are too.

How funds were invested

$265,000 invested in supplemental instruction

• Targeted tutoring for 3rd-8th grade students
• ACT/SAT preparatory courses for high school juniors
• Funding for all BVSD high school students needing to retake failed or incomplete coursework
• Additional instruction, technology and curriculum to keep students engaged and on grade level

$165,000 to ensure families have food on the table

• Supported emergency food distribution of nearly 2 million meals through BVSD Food Services
• Delivered grocery gift cards to 450 high needs families

$100,000 to provide a safe and stable place for students to learn

• Eliminated child care debt for 53 BVSD families in financial need
• Providing supervised care before and after 2021 summer learning to ensure all students who qualify can participate 

$60,000 to enable access to remote learning

• Provided 1,500 families with internet access through BVSD IT
• Supported the distribution of 6,000 chromebooks
• Deployed hotspots to families in need of more reliable service

$12,000 to equip elementary students with supplies

• Acquired and distributed 3,000 backpacks filled with school supplies for elementary school students when remote learning began 

$10,000 to keep kids reading at home

• Purchased thousands of books to distribute to families so students had reading material at home during the lockdowns in spring 2020 
• Collected and distributed thousands more books in the fall that reached students before winter break

On the horizon

We will continue meeting the critical needs of BVSD students this spring and summer and are committed to ensuring students facing opportunity gaps receive the support they need to stay engaged in learning.

A recent study by McKinsey & Company estimates that “students on average could lose five to nine months of learning by the end of June 2021. Students of color could be six to 12 months behind, compared with four to eight months for white students.” This translates to an average loss of “three months of learning in mathematics and one-and-a-half months of learning in reading.”

We are planning ways to provide supplemental instruction next school year and are committed to making sure that the disruptions to student learning in 2020-21 do not lead to long-term or permanent deficits for the students in our community, especially those who are traditionally underserved.

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