As I think we all know by now, last week’s rally and subsequent storming of the U.S. Capitol were not isolated incidents nor are they a temporary problem that can quickly be resolved.
It was interesting (and difficult) timing that we held a Board and staff conversation about race, equity and inclusion the very next night. The session was led by a talented facilitator who helped us understand and reconcile our own biases and develop tools to overcome them as individuals and as an organization. We left the meeting feeling empowered and hopeful that we were having the hard discussions that can really make a difference, and that our entire team is deeply committed to equity.
As we reflected on the work we did that night, we realized that our work to embrace diversity, to champion equity, to become more inclusive and to ensure justice is finally poised to move beyond talk and into action.
For a long time in education, and especially in Boulder Valley, we’ve talked about our persistent achievement gap. Students of color fare worse in almost every conceivable way, scoring lower on standardized tests, enrolling in fewer advanced classes and offered fewer post-secondary options. Our students reflect similar realities along economic lines.
Our affluent and middle income students perform well while their low income peers lag significantly behind. And despite all of the talk about the quantifiable facts that are laid bare when you look at student academic performance, very little action is taken to address this achievement gap.
Last week, over 50 of BVSD’s talented professionals serving on the post-pandemic recovery task force met to discuss the robust recovery work that will address these persistent inequalities exacerbated by the pandemic.
Educational equity was a priority when our organization was founded nearly 40 years ago. Since March, however, we’ve been particularly concerned about how disruptions to learning would impact students, especially those who are traditionally underserved.
The pandemic shifted our funding priorities from addressing achievement and opportunity gaps to addressing newly identified critical needs of our students. In 2020, we raised $2.4 million to support students in the Boulder Valley School District. This funding allowed us to provide:
Now, we are finally at a place where we can create targeted interventions to address both the academic and social-emotional well-being of students. I’m encouraged by the forthcoming BVSD plan and how it might create lasting change for students in our community.
While overcoming disparities and addressing inequities among local students will take time, we’re working to ensure that meaningful action is taken now to ensure changes that endure far beyond the pandemic. We are hopeful that this work may one day be seen as a turning point, and that a positive legacy of these trying times will be the way we finally moved beyond talking about equity to finally addressing it.
Our Student Advisory Board is a fun and collaborative leadership experience for Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) high school students.
We launched this program in 2019 to help advise our efforts and guide our investments. Our Student Advisory Board brings together students currently enrolled in Boulder Valley’s 13 high schools to share their perspectives and insights and create an initiative focused on an issue of importance to them.
A new leadership opportunity for the 2020-2021 Student Advisory Board involves conducting interviews with members of our local community. Pairs of students are preparing questions and sitting down for virtual conversations with a diverse group of local leaders to answer the question: What do you know now?
Looking back from high school to the present, what stands out? What lessons or insights do you want to share with students? And what advice can you offer as students navigate issues from equity to diversity to innovation in public schools?
Students will be interviewing leaders from a variety of industries, including government, tech, natural foods, and healthcare. Each interview will be a little different, but we hope you’ll be inspired by their honest conversations about topics important to our students and maybe learn something new.
Edition 1:
Edition 2:
In this edition, we hear from the first Colorado African-American member of Congress, the first female Boulder city manager, a healthcare CEO envisioning healthcare as an industry of service, and the founder of a wildly successful yoghurt company.
What do a Google engineer, a Colorado House representative, and two entrepreneurs have in common?
For the holidays this year, I bought each member of our small staff team a 2021 wall calendar (purchased from a local business, of course!). While calendars may not always be a coveted gift, this year, they felt significant. There’s something special about wrapping up the challenges we faced this year and anticipating brighter days in the year to come.
As I reflect on 2020 and the work we accomplished at Impact on Education, I’ve found many reasons to be grateful.
This year, with incredible supporters behind us and in partnership with some of the most committed professionals I’ve ever known, we helped students in our community in ways we could never have imagined a year ago. While the public health and economic crises created unbelievable hardship and loss for our community, we are fortunate they also allowed us to jump into action and respond in ways that I hope will be lasting.
Specifically, how incredible is it that 2020 was the year we eliminated the digital divide among students in BVSD, by providing home internet to all who needed it? The year when we finally understood the role that social emotional well-being plays in academic achievement? Or the year we recognized quite how many students don’t have enough to eat without the nourishment they receive at school?
2020 is the year we responded more boldly, more completely and more rapidly to eliminate barriers faced by students in BVSD.
Many of our job descriptions changed this year while searching for innovative ways to engage students in learning. And while things were far from ideal for students, our community came together to support our public schools and stood in solidarity with our most impacted students.
I hope we all learned to identify and acknowledge our privilege this year. I certainly have plenty, but still had my struggles. As tough as some days are, as troubling as individual stories of struggle are for us to handle, it seems that as challenges grow, so does the generosity of this community. With new supporters joining us in record numbers, we were able to keep pace with the growing needs of our students and contribute in some incredibly meaningful ways.
Moving into 2021, I hope this spirit of helping our neighbors, this commitment to equity, and the belief in the power of public education, stays with us.
Since 1983, we’ve been BVSD’s support system, providing supplemental funding and resources to expand what’s possible and promote equity in public education. This year, we were challenged in ways we have never been challenged before. And the fact that we’ve been able to rise to meet those challenges gives me hope.
All of us here at Impact on Education appreciate the opportunity to do this work and all who help make it possible. We hope you feel confident in our ability to reach new heights in 2021 and share our anticipation of the brighter days ahead.
With gratitude,
Allison Billings
Executive Director
The names Earl and Barbara Bolton may ring familiar for you. And if not, we’re so excited to be the ones to share their story with you.
Born in 1920 and 1924 respectively, Barbara and Earl both grew up in Boulder County: Barbara in the City of Boulder and Earl in the City of Longmont. The pair met in grade school, but fell in love while attending Boulder High School.
Barbara’s family owned a stage line that operated between Boulder, Nederland and Eldora, and Earl’s father and stepmother ran a local grocery store in Eldora. They played and worked in Eldora during the summers and in the winter they went to school in Boulder. Barbara’s family has a long history in Eldora and it’s where they eventually built their summer home.
Earl and Barbara were married shortly after Earl graduated from Boulder High, on November 15, 1942, and they spent their first three years of marriage apart while Earl served in WWII. Barbara studied drafting at the University of Colorado during that time. She became the first draftswoman for Boeing in Seattle, Washington, working on the B-17 during the war. Earl’s knack for electronics and engineering directed his service as a pilot in WWII, the Korean War and later the Air National Guard. Barbara and Earl were both avid aviators with Barbara learning to fly at 55 years of age!
The couple was married for 76 years. Barbara passed away in April 2019 and Earl shortly after in August 2019.
After Earl’s distinguished Army service, the two Boulder High School graduates returned to Boulder to work with the National Bureau of Standards (now known as the National Institute of Standards and Technology), and retired together in 1980. They dedicated much of their lives to both aviation and education, pursuing leadership and learning opportunities for youth in Boulder County.
The Boltons were incredibly generous throughout their life, fostering several young people and making donations to many organizations in support of people and animals in danger. They were also active in preserving Colorado history, especially in maintaining the historical value of Eldora. As time went by they gave wonderful collections to local libraries, museums, schools, organizations and individuals.
The Boltons traveled to many countries, learning and exploring along the way. They had great compassion for underprivileged cultures and developed passions for geology and anthropology.
With a fondness for Boulder and the Boulder Valley School District, Earl and Barbara named Impact on Education in their will, leaving 70% of their estate to create a new scholarship for deserving BVSD graduates.
While they didn’t leave many assets behind, the sale of the home they built together in 1960 provides a new endowment of over $500,000 to create the Earl and Barbara Bolton Scholarship. We are honored to use this endowment to award deserving BVSD graduates with college scholarships. More details on the eligibility criteria and the application will be shared in February 2021.
It’s been such a tough year for students and we’re excited to have a new way to support a student in need in 2021. And to have an incredible asset that will support our vital work for decades to come.
Want to learn more about the Boltons?
As you know, COVID-19 flipped education as we knew it upside down. Impact on Education was able to adapt and rise to meet new challenges facing our students, including the need for reliable home internet, school supplies and supplemental instruction.
With support from our community in 2020, we provided:
We’re uncertain what new challenges 2021 will bring our community, but we do know that your Colorado Gives Day gift will directly support BVSD students struggling through disrupted learning.
Colorado Gives Day is more than just a day. It’s a movement that inspires and unites thousands of donors to give where they live and support Colorado nonprofits. Colorado Gives Day unites all Coloradans in a common goal to strengthen the state’s nonprofits. The state’s largest community giving movement has raised a total of $257 million since the one-day giving event began in 2010.
Google is committed to a generous $20,000 matching donation for Colorado Gives Day. Will you join us in solidarity with our students, our educators and our community to support public education and help us unlock the match?
We have a long way to go to achieve equitable education in Boulder Valley, but with a community like you behind us, we will continue adapting, learning, and supporting the critical needs of our K-12 students.
Want to go the extra mile? Please share this post with other people in your network and help us reach our goal of engaging 100 new donors in our work!
BVSD students are back to remote learning today, and Impact on Education is right here to help them. At the Nov 10th BVSD Board of Education meeting, BVSD Superintendent Dr. Anderson recommended all schools return to Phase 1, or all-remote learning, for the duration of the calendar year. This decision was based on Boulder County public health case numbers and the impact of current quarantines on school staffing. As we have since March, Impact on Education moved quickly to ensure we supported BVSD students and families as they navigate this return to remote learning.
We have learned a lot since we launched our Critical Needs Fund back in March, but it’s clear that there are still large-scale district-wide needs. Our role is to address the many challenges of local students, including home internet access, adequate food, childcare, and supplemental instruction to ensure gaps in learning do not lead to more permanent deficits.
With more and more students learning from home, BVSD IT is challenged with making sure every single student has a reliable internet connection and functioning device. Impact on Education is supporting these efforts with funding to ensure all families have home internet. Now, we’ve turned our attention to making sure that the internet service is adequate in households with multiple kids at home. Impact on Education is partnering with BVSD IT, Boulder County and the City of Boulder to purchase and distribute over 500 additional hotspots for families! We’re also proud that our partnership has helped streamline a process for assisting students and families with connectivity and internet reliability issues.
When school buildings are closed, food becomes an immediate need, and we know that students can’t learn if they are hungry. Since March, Impact on Education has been working in close partnership with the BVSD Food Services team to distribute food items and fresh produce to families every week. Families can access food on Mondays from 10:30 am – 1:30 pm at Columbine, Crestview, Emerald, Louisville Middle, Manhattan, Sanchez and Nederland Middle-Senior High.
Starting today and for the month of December, BVSD will offer full-day drop-in School Age Care (SAC) at multiple schools. Impact on Education will continue to provide scholarships for families who need the all-day care. The enrollment process remains the same with families registering their students for SAC and applying for Childcare Assistance through the state. We work with Community Schools to evaluate the number of scholarships needed to supplement. We know that having paraeducators assist students in-person with online learning is a priority for some families, and we are proud to support the BVSD community with this aspect of Phase 1.
Schools are facing immediate student needs for individual academic support so Impact on Education created a Student Academic Support Fund that has already funded small group tutoring, software licenses to improve literacy instruction, Advanced Placement testing fees and much more. We are evaluating this program now and will decide during the month of December how to advance this program in the spring semester.
Wherever the learning occurs, Impact on Education will support students, families, and schools however we can. Whether the needs are district-wide, school-wide, or for individual students, we will continue to adapt our efforts to meet those needs.
Looking for other BVSD family resources? Click here.
Did you know that you’re part of BVSD’s support system? We couldn’t do what we do for local students without people like you behind us. If you’re looking for ways to give back this holiday season, we would be grateful if you included Impact on Education in your giving. Here are three ways you can brighten the holidays for local students.
Bidding closes on Monday, November 30 in our virtual auction. Support public education and fine dining by placing a bid on top-rated wines from around the world and local fine dining and shopping experiences.
All proceeds from this event will go directly to BVSD students thanks to our generous sponsors: Premier Members Credit Union, Crestone Capital and Trailhead Wealth Management.
We’re collecting new and gently used children’s books for kids ages 0-14 in the Boulder Valley School District. The books collected will be part of the Share-a-Gift Holiday Toy Shop for local families.
Books will be collected November 30 through December 14. Gather books and deliver to one of our collection sites at your convenience.
Schedule your Colorado Gives Day gift and help us unlock a $20,000 matching gift from Google. Your gift will go a long way towards creating equitable change in Boulder Valley schools!
We have a long way to go to achieve equitable education in Boulder Valley. With people like you behind us, we can continue adapting, learning, and supporting the most critical needs of students in our community.
Our small but mighty team is thrilled to welcome Catherine Wessling as Impact on Education’s new Communications Director.
A hybrid professional, Catherine is a creative conductor working at the intersection of storytelling, design and project management. Working in communications since her early career, she honed her ability to both build and execute communications strategy while leading marketing for Haibike USA and building entrepreneurship programs at Leeds School of Business.
Catherine will drive Impact on Education’s annual communications strategy. She’s also responsible for our website, social media, and digital marketing.
Catherine grew up in Louisville, Colorado and is a BVSD alumna, having attended Louisville Middle School, Monarch K-8 and Monarch High School. When she’s not supporting educational equity in Boulder County, Catherine advocates for local history by volunteering with The Louisville History Foundation. She lives in her beloved hometown with her daughter and husband.
“As a BVSD alumna and the mother of a three-year-old, I’m particularly interested in supporting our local education system,” Catherine shared. “But what truly drew me to Impact on Education is the ability to use my talents to help our local community close the achievement gap. Now, perhaps more than ever, the importance of local education is paramount.”
Catherine is getting to know us, and she’d love to hear from you. Reach out and introduce yourself!
BVSD is proud to announce that the annual Corden Pharma Science Fair will be held February 22, 2021 in an online, virtual format due to COVID-19, and judges are needed! This annual event invites middle and high school student researchers from across the district to showcase their extraordinary research projects and compete for prizes and a place in the Colorado State and International Science Fairs.
This year’s Science Fair judges will be using a software program to conduct project judging, and judges will interview students and evaluate them based on established project criteria. In terms of time commitment, the fair will take place between 8a and 4pm on February 22, 2021, and judges can choose among evaluating high school (Senior level) projects or middle school (Junior level) projects or even both. Judges usually evaluate about 3-5 projects within their area of expertise or interest and as part of a judging team.
The Corden Pharma Science Fair stands out as a meaningful and rich opportunity for students to engage in all aspects of research, including data collection and analysis, as well as presentation of that research in various formats, including visualizations and video. Impact on Education is excited to support BVSD in reaching out to our community science experts and advocates to share their passion for science with our future leaders. Judges make this event possible!
Feel free to check out the Science Fair website for additional information, and if you would like to register, please complete the form here. You may also contact the Science Fair Coordinator, Kristin Donley kristin.donley@bvsd.org to help answer any questions you may have.
Yes, the Impact on Education Student Advisory Board is back in session, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome our largest SAB team ever! This year’s group comprises 16 BVSD students, passionate about “talking school” and eager to use their experiences and observations to make positive changes within both their schools and the school district in general.
As we heard last night during our first meeting of the year, students are excited to “improve the educational system regarding inequality and inequity,” as one student put it, along with making the most of this great opportunity to “be a platform for minority students at Boulder High School,” as another responded to why she joined SAB. Other reasons for joining range from personal experiences with physically disabled students and wanting to expand those moments for other students to desires to make their schools that much more effective for their younger siblings. One student even boldly stated, “I want to have uncomfortable conversations because uncomfortable conversations are the most important ones to have.” Well, here we go!
For the first time since we started this program, the SAB members represent all four grade levels from freshman to senior, five of the BVSD high schools, and communities truly spanning the district from Nederland to Erie to Superior. As we gather monthly, we will hear from students whose concerns range from the lack of equity in student opportunity and access to the addressing of sexual assault to classism to prioritizing a voice for underrepresented student groups, such as special education students and LGBTQ students. And we will see these student activists collaborate with each other and with us to drive their own efforts and to support BVSD in their striving to improve.
Changes made to the program this year include all remote meetings and a new leadership opportunity involving interviews with community leaders. We can’t wait to see how these students run with what we have planned and what they bring to the table!
Welcome 2020-2021 Impact on Education Student Advisory Board!
info@impactoneducation.org
303.524.3865
Impact on Education
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Louisville, CO 80027
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