ABOUT US

OUR PURPOSE

Front Range BOCES strengthens educators’ leadership and instructional practices while elevating student voice in learning-related conversations.

We do this exciting work via professional learning, customized experiences and coaching to inspire new thinking, catalyze connections, and generate energy – all in a supportive, safe environment.

OUR VALUES

We honor every educator’s unique strengths and needs.
We customize our experiences to capitalize on those strengths and address those needs.
We listen to and care deeply about the educators we serve.
We constantly seek their feedback and input to improve the quality of our services.

OUR TEAM

KIRSTENBLAKE

"As someone who left the classroom due to compassion fatigue and burnout, I am determined to create opportunities to support educators’ and education leaders’ well-being. When a school leader creates personal healthy habits it has a direct impact on the entire school community. Social emotional learning must include the adults in the building – not just the students.

I thrive on helping people shift their stories about themselves, others, and life itself to create new possibilities and results."

ANISSA BUTLER

"Educators need time and space to think, collaborate and envision new ways to serve students based in academic rigor, social justice, and compassion.

I feel that one of my strengths is being able to see a situation from a variety of perspectives. I believe that sometimes getting a new perspective on a familiar situation can create new opportunities for learning,
re-engaging and connecting with others."

KELLY CORBETT

"Leaders need to be learners. We all can learn and grow; we just need to have a mindset that lets different perspectives guide the work.

Education leaders need to exhibit listening, humbleness and drive. You really have to want success for all students to drive you forward.

Today, education is challenged by mandates and time. It seems that everyone knows more than the educators. Laws, rules and guidelines make it a challenge for educators

to do it all."

VIVIAN ELLIOTT

"As a former school principal and central administrator, I have viewed education as a great equalizer, providing intellectual, social, economic, and political capital to students. Adults and children are whole beings with varying emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual capacities.

School leadership, from students, teachers, staff members, and families is a priceless gift for promoting human growth and development, especially during the recent tumultuous and uncertain times.

Informed cultural responsiveness towards curriculum, instruction, school policies and practices is essential to meaningful education. Educators are stewards who get to model inclusion, equity, and belonging. My deep value of diversity, including neurodiversity, racial, gender, ability, language, and more, guides my own leadership responsiveness."

NOAH GEISEL

"Nothing fills my cup like the moment when an educator has that “ah-ha” moment of learning something new or gaining fresh perspective on a problem of practice. There’s a tangible moment of joy.

We serve such smart and talented humans, and I’ve learned that they don’t need me to share smart comments but smart questions can help them unlock the answers they already have. I believe I bring a weird, outsider perspective that injects our shared inquiry with curiosity and wonder."

PATTY HANRAHAN

"I have had all the jobs in a school: teacher, instructional coach, assistant principal, principal as well as district level work. I can empathize with leaders' positions, listen with an open mind, and support them where they are.

Great leaders can approach problem solving from their own strengths and find success much more easily than trying to adopt the leadership style of someone else.

To attract more great people to the field, we need to give people respect and the space they need in order to innovate."

STEVAN KALMON

"What brings me joy is feeling like we’re collectively making schools more engaging and rewarding places to be.

Building and sustaining meaningful relationships with learners is the most fundamental work of teaching. And educators are good people. They want good things for each other and for kids, and they work hard to make good things happen.

What I bring to this work is: thoroughly developed strategies that promote powerful learning and vibrant learning communities; an open mind and heart regarding the ideas and beliefs of others; love, hope, and admiration for kids."

SUSAN SPARKS

“I once received a compliment that I approach the word ‘NO’ as just an extension of a longer conversation, that obstacles are temporary, and that I work like anything is possible. I was proud of that.

Helping others create a vision and see possibilities drives my work. I work with groups to see past challenges and to embrace their own wisdom. I believes that, when people focus on an issue, their awareness of solutions expands – and their investment in that solution builds momentum for change."

TRACY
STEGALL

“I love to help practitioners think about big ideas, support them in putting them into practice, and make sure that we laugh along the way.

I attend to the intersection between organizational culture, growth, and success through a systems-thinking approach. I believe that our experiences and our genetics/biology drive us as humans… and our unique and diverse gifts offer opportunities, through self-awareness, for contextual leadership. Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are cornerstones of my practice."

RONA WILENSKY

"It’s an inside out job to become a transformational leader. You have to be the change and have a systems thinking view of the work – all the interconnecting parts of the school, the district, the state and the politics.

The most pressing issue in education is creating communities of inclusion that provide psychological safety for students and staff. Education leaders need to expand their social and emotional capacities and commitment to personal and staff well being.

The greatest obstacle to school improvement is the lack of time for adult learning and time to create balance between the demands of the profession and educators' personal lives."

HI HOWARD

Executive Director

Hi has been privileged to lead FR BOCES for eleven years. In that time, he has designed, piloted and implemented a variety of high impact learning experiences for Metro Denver school and district leaders.

He has also developed skills and mindsets that allow him to help these leaders in deepening their creative and strategic leadership capacities. Prior to joining FR BOCES, Hi held leadership and management positions in for profit, nonprofit, and philanthropic organizations. He is a proud husband and father of two teenage boys and spends his free time outdoors paddling, hiking, camping and skate cross-country skiing.