Sue Kidder—K-1-2

Sue’s passionate belief in the importance of public education has led her to acquire two related master’s degrees.  Her first, from the University of Chicago, is in social policy research, focusing specifically on education policy.   Her second, from the University of Colorado, is in elementary education, focusing on multicultural and bilingual education.  Sue has taught for 14 years in the Boulder/Denver area, and also spent 4 years in southern China, where she helped to open China’s first bilingual/bicultural school for Chinese children, and acted both as teacher and literacy coordinator.  Sue has also been employed professionally as an evaluator of several statewide educational programs for young children.  Sue enjoys gardening, hiking, camping, reading, and socializing with friends.  Sue’s sense of adventure has led her to journey, off the beaten path, through Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia.  Sue’s life experience, her strengths in literacy, mathematics, and science, coupled with her emotional intelligence and personal affect with children, make her a uniquely effective teacher and mentor of “the whole child”.  Sue's accomplishments as a teacher have not gone unnoticed.  She has been the recipient of several teaching awards including:  The Impact on Education Teaching Award, Boulder Valley School District’s highest teaching honor; The prestigious Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence for the state of Colorado; and the Boulder Rotary Club's Unsung Hero award.

 
Christine McCaul —3-4-5

Christine has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education and a Master of Education in Educational Leadership. Her education endorsements include elementary education, linguistically diverse education, gifted education, exceptional student education, secondary science education, K-12 physical education, and educational leadership.

Christine has worked in multi-age assignments with students of all ages and has a particularly strong background in experiential science education. She has worked with special needs students, English language learners, and gifted learners, as well as with students of all socioeconomic levels. She also spent four years working with minority juvenile offenders from the inner-city of Miami, most of whom were illiterate and had previously dropped out of school. For her work at this school, Christine received several awards, including Teacher of the Year, Outstanding Staff, and Leadership Excellence. She was even invited to serve on the national Educational Excellence Committee for her expertise in serving at-risk youth through experiential education programs.

Christine has a strong background in outdoor adventure programs, having planned and facilitated backpacking, spelunking, kayaking, rock climbing and rafting trips. At the same time, she is committed to providing a rigorous academic curriculum which captures students’ interests and strengths and incorporates hands-on teaching while providing instructional differentiation to meet a wide range of student needs. Christine prides herself in creating a classroom where students are excited and eager to be –a classroom that is creative, stimulates divergent thinking, and which keeps students engaged and having fun.