2019 CO-CABE Award Recipients |
| On October 11, 2019 CO-CABE hosted the fourth annual Awards Gala to honor its 2019 award recipients. CO-CABE awards are granted to those who have contributed to positive outcomes in policy and programs for emerging bilingual students in Colorado. The CO-CABE board recognizes that no single person accomplishes much without the contributions of others. However, the board also recognizes that it is commitment and passion that sets individuals apart as leaders and the board believes that these honorees have those qualities and use them to inspire emerging bilingual students to excel across Colorado. |
| CO-CABE President’s Award Heather Villalobos-Pavia, Colorado Department of Education |
| Heather Villalobos-Pavia was selected to receive this honor because of her leadership and advocacy at the state and local level for the fair and valid assessment of emerging bilingual students. She has been instrumental in the creation, development and ongoing work with the Colorado Spanish Language Arts Assessment for emerging bilingual students in the 3rd and 4th grades which has created a positive and lasting impact on schools and students across the state. Her persistent advocacy for students, keeping them always at the forefront of every decision, is remarkable. Her experience as a bilingual educator grounds you in always doing what is in the best interest of our students. |
CO-CABE Federico Peña Community Service Award Padres y Jóvenes Unidos, Elsa Oliva Rocha, Ricardo Martínez |
| Padres y Jóvenes Unidos was selected to receive this honor because of the organization’s tireless work in fighting for educational equity, immigrant rights, and confronting racial injustices across Colorado schools since the 1990’s. Through the years they have worked for student rights, healthy schools, civic engagement and many other powerful causes. It is inspirational to see the organization’s commitment to working hand-in-hand with and lifting up the young people in the community as leaders and agents for change. |
| CO-CABE Board Award CLDE Faculty at CU Denver: Dr. Adriana Álvarez, Kathleen Bougher, Chris Carson, Dr. Sofía Chaparro, Andrew Koch, Dr. Elizabeth Mahon, Dr. Nicole Sager, Dr. Sheila Shannon |
| This team was selected to receive this honor because of their impressive work of incorporating the CLDE endorsement as an integral part of students’ BA coursework for elementary teacher education majors. Because of their advocacy, leadership, and hard work, students can now graduate with their BA, their teacher licensure and a CLDE endorsement ALL before they begin their first year of teaching. Through the CLDE endorsement, teacher candidates receive a critical foundation in understanding learning and development in multilingual settings. The impact they are making on our future teachers and our Emerging Bilingual students is remarkable! |
| CO-CABE Bilingual Teacher of the Year Liliana Sánchez Cruz, Charles M. Schenck (CMS) Community School, Denver Public School District |
| Liliana Sánchez Cruz was nominated to receive this honor because of the outstanding work she does as a bilingual classroom teacher and teacher leader at Schenck Community Schools. Her nomination by colleagues was glowing and filled with many reasons of why she deserves this award including the fact that her own personal story and experiences inspire her to believe in kids and their families beyond any horizon. She is truly an inspiration to her students, their families and her colleagues. |
| CO-CABE Educational Leader of the Year Ina Rodríguez-Myer, University Hill Elementary, Boulder Valley School District |
| Ina Rodríguez-Myer was nominated to receive this honor because of her tireless and inspirational leadership and advocacy for students and teachers as she leads her staff to engage in professional learning, critical reflection and courageous conversations that have led to a shift in the delivery model of dual language education at her school. Even more impressively, she engages in this challenging work focusing on social justice and equity for all students, while lifting up her staff and maintaining an impressively strong school climate and culture across the school and larger community.. Her leadership is truly remarkable and will have a lasting positive impact on the emerging bilingual students in her school now and into the future. |
| CO-CABE English as a second language Teacher of the Year Grace De La Sala, Carbondale Middle School, Roaring Fork School District |
| Grace De La Sala was nominated by several colleagues because of her dedication and exceptionally high commitment to her emerging bilingual students at Carbondale Middle School. She is cognized for the incredible impact she has made on the academic and linguistic growth of her emerging bilingual students and for her leadership as a model of excellence at CMS and in the Roaring Fork School District. |