For the past 28 years, we’ve honored individuals in the Boulder Valley School District at our annual Impact Awards. This celebration recognizes one person from each of Boulder Valley’s 56 schools making an extraordinary impact on student learning because of their exceptional collaboration, innovation, and dedication to students. We also award one educator with the Blake Peterson Lifetime Achievement Award and another with the Imogene Maxon Early Teacher Award.

This year, we’re seeing so many people stepping up for our students, we decided to recognize  the entire BVSD community through the Impact Awards: Community Edition.

Why we’re celebrating you

Every single person involved in education—teachers, staff, administrators, parents, and students—has gone above and beyond this school year, demonstrating their commitment to education and our students. So this year, in the most extraordinary school year we’ve faced thus far, we’re recognizing the entire BVSD community with an Impact Award.

• Educators, thank you for engaging students and families and keeping them at the forefront of decisions.
• Students, thank you for adapting and staying committed to learning through this difficult year.
• Parents, thank you for your patience and flexibility during a very challenging school year.
• Supporters, thank you for standing with us to show the strength of our community.

How we’re saying thank you

We didn’t let an historic snowstorm get in the way of saying thank you. We hope you were able to see our messaging throughout the community this week. Here’s what you might have missed:

• Our BIG thank you in the Daily Camera on Sunday, March 14, 2021
• Banners and yard signs at every BVSD school
• Posters and stickers at schools and local businesses
• Emails and posts of gratitude on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter

We’re thankful for our presenting sponsor, Premier Members Credit Union, in addition to Google, Comcast and the Boulder Valley Education Association for allowing us to recognize our incredible BVSD community through this gratitude campaign.

Special discounts through the end of the school year

We’re thrilled to partner with 25 businesses offering special discounts for the BVSD community through the end of the school year. It’s been a tough year for our small business community as well, and we’re grateful so many were able to join us in saying thank you.

From coffee shops to bookstores to local restaurants, we hope something on the list brings your family some extra joy.

Looking ahead

It’s too early to say what next year’s Impact Awards will look like, though we sure hope to celebrate with you in person. Regardless of how many educators we’re able to recognize each year, please know: we appreciate you!

Amidst the many challenges facing our community right now, we are excited to share good news about a virtual celebration we held on May 7 during Teacher Appreciation Week. We had the joy of honoring seven BVSD early career teachers and recognizing one first-year teacher as our inaugural Imogene Maxon Early Career Teacher award (IMA) winner! We originally intended to recognize and award these educators in person during our annual Impact Awards event in March, but we rescheduled the event for September, when we will honor them all in person with our Impact Award winners.

Earlier this year, we received a bequest from the family of Imogene Maxon, a lifelong educator who taught in BVSD, in the form of 5% of her estate. Imogene believed strongly in the impact of teachers who spend a lifetime honing instruction and learning practices and positively impacting countless students within the classroom.

Our seven nominees were chosen for their commitment to the teaching profession, and for embodying a passion and stamina that reflects one of a veteran educator. The nominees represent Boulder High, Emerald Elementary, University Hill Elementary, Eldorado K-8, Transitions Center, Manhattan Middle, and Nederland Middle/Senior.

Congratulations to Emily Trujillo

Our first-ever IMA winner, Emily Trujillo, is a kindergarten teacher at Emerald Elementary and a BVSD graduate. Announced by BVSD Board of Education President Tina Marquis, Emily stood out with her wise-beyond-her-years demeanor, natural leadership, and dedication to individual students. She is dedicated to showing students how they can be represented in their teachers.

The virtual celebration included all of the award nominees, their principals, BVSD Board of Education members, and BVSD administrative leaders, and was broadcast on BV22 simultaneously. We encourage the community to watch the video and celebrate our BVSD educators! 

Thanks to the Maxon bequest, each nominee and the winner was given a monetary award.

Impact on Education is proud to announce Sue Taddeucci as the recipient of the 2020 Blake Peterson Lifetime Achievement Award. Sue is a Special Education Multi-Intensive Learning Center Teacher at Southern Hills Middle School.

Sue exemplifies what Blake Peterson valued most in educators, an extraordinary heart for the students she works with. This commitment is best exemplified by how she individualizes her approach to working with each student’s needs and strengths to optimize their potential. Her endless enthusiasm in working with families, pioneering new teaching approaches, facilitating the groundbreaking peer tutoring program, and mentoring an incredible number of educators in special education, has changed the lives of countless individuals in our district and throughout the state.

Sue has served the BVSD community since 2007 when she joined the Creekside Elementary preschool program. She’s been catalyzing and innovating within the Special Education department at Southern Hills Middle since 2010, and building a norm of inclusivity in the process. Her tireless dedication to partnering with all of the positive influences and roles in a student’s life – parents, caregivers, families, student classmates, paraeducators, colleagues, district administrators – with only the goal of that student’s growth as the focus had led to progression and learning that is truly transformative. 

Equally important, her sphere of positive impact extends beyond her classroom walls and BVSD. Sue drives a Peer Tutoring Program that caught the eyes of the Colorado Department of Education, and her energetic, inclusive teaching style is a positive model for special education teachers and programs across the state. 

Thank you, Sue, for bringing out the best in your students and in all those around you!

Click here to read an article about the 2020 Blake Peterson Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, Sue Taddeucci, in the Daily Camera.

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