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

Coach and Facilitator

Super Powers

Helping others build expansive mindsets through self-awareness
Listening actively and helping others do the same
Making connections among thoughts, ideas and people
Heart and human centered

"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.

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

KELLY CORBETT

Coach and Facilitator

Super Powers

Supporting leaders in developing listening, humbleness and drive.
Keeping student success for all at the center of the process
Cutting through the noise to create mission-based focus

"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.

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

Coach and Facilitator

Super Powers

Authentic empathy
Equity champion
Compassionate listening

"Adults and children are whole beings with varying emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual capacities.

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."

PATTY HANRAHAN

Coach and Facilitator

Super Powers

Building up others through their strengths
Creating community
Honoring differing perspectives

"I have had all the jobs in a school: teacher, instructional coach, AP, principal and 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. We need to give people respect and the space they need in order to innovate."

TRACY
STEGALL

Coach and Facilitator

Super Powers

Equity champion for ALL students and families
Leveraging student voice
Building consensus
Systems thinking
Special education leadership

“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 unique and diverse gifts offer opportunities, through self-awareness, for contextual leadership. Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are cornerstones of my practice."

RONA WILENSKY

Coach and Facilitator

Super Powers

Systems thinking and seeing connections between all the pieces
Focusing on root causes of issues
Seeking clarity in thinking and action
Valuing the importance of both individual and organizational change

"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.

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."

AMY
ATWELL

Facilitator

Super Powers

Helping others reflect and expand on their thinking
Drawing out others' stories through genuine curiosity
Fostering creative thinking/exchange by creating safe space for communication

“When coaching and supporting others, I am deliberate about deepening their confidence and mindset so they realize that growth is easier than they assume. I come alongside and reassure them that they can overcome any barriers in their path as they approach a new skill or challenge.

People tend to share candidly with me because I prefer to listen more than speak.”

ANISSA BUTLER

Facilitator

Super Powers

Communicating across diverse perspectives
Co-designing solutions to manage and resolve conflict
Motivating people to cooperate and compromise

"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."

NOAH GEISEL

Facilitator

Super Powers

Curiosity and wonder that prompts deeper inquiry
Helping leaders unlock the answers inside them
Asking thought-provoking and action-provoking questions

"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."

STEVAN KALMON

Facilitator

Super Powers

Skeptically curious education technology developer and leader
Dedicated to learner individualization and agency
Specializes in inquiry based learning for adults and students
Active, empathetic listener

"What brings me joy is feeling like we’re collectively making schools more engaging and rewarding places to be through: thoroughly developed strategies that promote powerful learning and vibrant learning communities; a belief in the ideas of others; and love, hope and admiration for kids.

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

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.