2009 Winners

2009 AWARD Finalists:

CABE President’s Award

Roberto Cuevas, Principal, Berry Creek Middle

Roberto Cuevas was born in Nuevo Casa Grande, Chihuahua, Mexico and moved to Eagle County when he was five years old. He was active in sports in high school and graduated in 1997 from Eagle Valley High School. He graduated from UNC with a bachelor’s of arts degree in Spanish with an emphasis in Education and a minor in ESL in 2001. He was fortunate to return home to Eagle County to teach Spanish and ESL at EVHS. In 2005, Robert completed his first masters in Linguistically Diverse Education at the University of Colorado – Boulder. In 2005, he and his family moved to Delta, where he worked as an assistant principal at Delta High School. His master’s in Educational Leadership was completed in 2006. In the same year, he moved back to Eagle County, where he was hired to be the principal of Berry Creek Middle School and continues to work there today. He has a wife, Becky, and three children.

CABE Board Award

Lynn Widger, Principal, Columbine

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Lynn Widger has been in bilingual education as a parent, advocate and educator for 33 years. Her first experience was in 1976 as a parent member of the bilingual advisory committee of her daughter’s school. In 1981 her involvement expanded to her professional life when she became an ESL teacher and coordinator for a Title VII grant in Center, Colorado. In 1984 Lynn began her employment with the Boulder Valley School District. There she served for 11 years as the district director for bilingual/ESL education and Title 1. During that time along with teachers and parents, she co-founded one of Colorado’s first two way dual language schools, Escuela Bilingue Washington. Additionally through her leadership, ESL instructor positions changed from classified tutors (common in Colorado at the time) to licensed teachers.

For the past 9 years, Lynn served as the principal of Columbine Elementary, a school comprised of 80% ELL children and 90% free/reduced lunch. Lynn led the school through a major restructuring to address the academic and cultural needs of the school’s population, both native English speakers and English language learners. In 2004 she was recognized for these efforts by receiving the Daily Camera Pacesetter Award for Education.

In June, Lynn retired from the Boulder Valley Schools. She earned her BA degree from Adams State Collage and her MA in Curriculum and Instruction for the University of Colorado/Boulder. She is the mother of two daughters and six step children and the adoring grandmother of 20 grandchildren.

CABE Administrator Award

Lori Smith, Principal Polston Elementary

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Lori Smith is currently a principal at Polston Primary where she has been for seventeen years, eleven years as a teacher leader and six as the principal. She holds a BA in Selected Studies/Liberal Art/Elementary Education with Minor in Business Administration and Math, M. A. in Elementary Education, and a second M.A. in Educational Leadership K-12 all from Adams State College.

Polston Primary is my home. I have helped it grow along with my staff into the dynamic school, a place where every child has a voice. In my school we have made great strides in parent involvement, but with our English Language Acquisition parents, I believe they have raised the bar. My staff has built a place of trust, commitment, and honor for our parents. Our parents are sending us their pride and joy and intrusting my staff to provide them with the best education .I support my teachers and encourage them to thinks out side the box. We honor children’s native language and give them the opportunity to learn and excel. I believe that students, parents, staff and community working together can only benefit our students. The key words are “our students”. All things must come together to make it work. Education is the key to success. I truly believe in being a lifelong learner and I share that dream with every “little” life that I touch. It is the most important thing I have to offer as a friend, as leader, as a teacher, as a ROLE MODEL!! I believe if your administrator has heart, than ALL will have passion.

CABE Bilingual Teacher Award

Lina Quintero, Charles M. Schenck (CMS) Community School

Lina Quintero received her BA in education with a specialization in rehabilitative education from Fundacion Universitaria Luis Amigo in Columbia. She has a Masters of Science degree in multidisciplinary studies from State University of New York College at Buffalo. She is currently working on her Masters of Arts degree through the University of Colorado at Boulder. Lina is an extremely committed teacher who believes in her students and pushes them to achieve their best. She is constantly learning and trying to improve her instruction to best meet her students needs Her students rise to meet the challenge and her students growth in reading in both reading in English and Spanish last year was incredible!

CABE ESL Teacher Award

Ara McKelvey, Poudre School District

Ara McKelvey received her teaching degree from National University in California. She moved to Colorado in 2002 and has been teaching English Language Learners at Tavelli Elementary ever since. She attributes her studies in France as guiding her into working in the field of English Language Acquisition.

Ara earned a Master’s degree in Technology Education from Lesley College. This is evident in the creative lessons that Ara creates, incorporating technology and all four modes of language together seamlessly. Ara’s students develop listening, speaking, reading and writing through lessons designed around Photo Stories, E-books, the use of Smart Boards, and Digital Cameras for storytelling, movie making and puppet shows. Ara created a web-page that is part of Tavelli’s web-site. She highlights student work and puppet shows on this site.

The technological products made by Ara’s students enhance her relationships with families. Parents look forward to reading student made books and request them digitally and in print. Ara has developed a valuable way to make connections with families through technology in the ESL classroom. Ara would say that richness is added to her life through her work with English Language Learners. She learns about the world through the eyes of her students and believes that her “students provide windows to the world that enrich the lives of everyone.”

Paraprofessional of the Year

Gloria Perea, Brighton School District