Families First Award
The 2010 Families First Award
And the Envelope Please…Shana Bokelman!
It was with great pleasure that CO Hands & Voices presented the 2010 Families First award to Shana Bokelman. The Hands & Voices award is presented annually at the Fall Gala in Denver. The award recipients exemplify the spirit of this award, which reflects their diligent pursuit of support to families who have children who are deaf and hard of hearing.
Shana Bokelman grew up with a hearing loss herself, and knows personally the challenges that her students face. This fueled her desire to become a deaf education teacher and make a lasting difference in the lives of her students. Shana has worked as an itinerant teacher at Centennial BOCES for twelve years, and teaches children in the rural communities of northern Colorado with all types of hearing loss and communication modalities. Shana works hard to collaborate with families, teachers and administration to ensure that the unique needs of each child are met.
Luckily for her families, Shana sets few boundaries on her time working with students and advising staff, families and administrators on hearing related issues. She teaches students to advocate for themselves and models this in her work – she is always ready to stand up on behalf of our students. Shana generously gives of her time and talent to teach sign language and serve as a role model through CSDB’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Connections program whenever possible.
Shana plays a critical role in the annual northern CO Deaf/Hard of Hearing Day where students spend a day with other deaf/hard of hearing peers from all over the region. She eventually was able to expand this day to include not just elementary students, but middle and high school students as well. Many have never met another child with a hearing loss. Shana also began a pen pal program to combat the sense of isolation that so many of our kids experience.
In response to her award, Bokelman shared that she was honored and surprised to be in league with such a great group of past award winners. She thanked her family for always supporting her and allowing her to share time with her “other” kids. Bokelman went on to say:
“Most of all, I owe my complete gratitude to the parents of the children I serve on a daily basis--without you and your children, I would not be standing here today… I wake up every day for those kids out there who need my support one way or another. I would also like to thank Hands & Voices for being such a great organization that recognizes all fields of professions and parents for the work they do to help kids with hearing loss. Without this organization, there would be a lot of lost parents.”
Please join us in congratulating Shana for all her hard work on behalf of one child, one team, and one district at a time.
Nominations for Families First Award
In every field, there are those who forge ahead with a tireless spirit to "make things happen" for our deaf and hard of hearing kids. Help us recognize the professionals and parents in the field of deaf/hh education who pioneer on behalf of all our children.
Send in your nomination letter to recognize those parents and professionals who go the extra mile, who challenge the status quo, and who immeasurably enrich the lives of our children. Nominations will be accepted annually until October 1 of each year. Please send to cohv@handsandvoices.org
Previous recipients of the Families First award include Rob Frantum-Allen, an educator and administrator in Denver Public Schools who connects with families and inspires and creates opportunities for his staff to pursue continuing education, researcher Allison Sedey at CU Boulder, Rep. Mark Larson, Barbara Jean Wood, Stephanie Olson, Dinah Beams, Allison Biever, Donna Ewing, BJ Brubaker-Blocker, Denise Davis Pedrie, Ruth Mathers, Cathy Noble Hornsby, Brian W. Smith, Cheryl DeConde Johnson, and Christine Yoshinaga Itano.
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