Every year our 56 schools in BVSD choose each choose an impactful person in their school community to honor with an Impact Award.

A school community does not only include those who work in the building! Schools may nominate anyone creating a positive impact on the work and people inside their building, including classroom teachers, specialists, administrators, classified employees, or volunteers.

What do we mean by impactful?

• Inspiring and encouraging learning within your school community
• Supporting students within your school community
• Working collaboratively with others in your school community

Impactful individuals show an ongoing commitment to professional and personal growth and have powerful, often life-changing, effects on students and/or the rest of the education community through unfaltering and purposeful effort.

Celebrations

School Celebrations – March 2023

We encourage each school to plan a school-based celebration for their honoree. Whether it’s an assembly, a staff meeting, or a unique school surprise, we’ll provide an Impact Awards celebration kit to help make it fun. (Kits delivered in late February 2023.)

We are here to help with resources and ideas, should you need any, and encourage you to collaborate with your school PTO/PTA organization if you have one.

Community celebration – May 2023

We are planning to honor all 2022-23 Impact Award honorees at a community-wide celebration in May 2023.

Established in 2017, the Lifetime Achievement Award honors the legacy of one of our most fervent supporters, Blake Peterson. This award recognizes and celebrates an individual who, consistently over the course of decades, catalyzes positive change within Boulder Valley School District, and whose own passion for education and learning mirrors that of the award’s namesake.

The son of two educators, one a teacher at Whittier Elementary and the other a university professor, Blake deeply valued public education. He devoted his life to community service and supporting quality public education for all students. 

The Blake Peterson Lifetime Achievement Award winners are viewed as leaders, mentors, problem solvers, and motivators of their peers and students, as demonstrated within the parameters of their role. 

The nominee must:

• be a difference maker and student advocate in BVSD
• demonstrate passion for and a commitment to tackling barriers to equity and student opportunity
• positively impacts students’ lives and experiences
• have/held role(s) inside or outside the classroom, formal or informal
• have worked with BVSD for a significant period of time

The Imogene “Jean” Maxon Early Educator Award is awarded to a BVSD teacher with up to three years of classroom experience who demonstrates the drive, stamina, and vision of a career educator. Given the attrition of beginning educators, this award is inspired and supported by Jean Maxon, a lifetime teacher whose own legacy extends beyond the BVSD classroom. Imogene believed in inspiring and supporting teachers and teacher education. This award is designed to provide encouragement and added motivation for classroom teaching and to remind all educators that they are valued and appreciated in our community.

Eligible educators must:

• Have one to three years of classroom experience
• Be currently employed by the Boulder Valley School District
• Hold a current Colorado teaching license