Boulder Flatirons Rotary Celebrates Rotary International Literacy MonthBoulder Flatirons Rotary celebrated Rotary International Literacy month in September by honoring the 501(c)3 nonprofit Boulder Valley Spellbinders as well as awarding an individual Boulder Community member – Susan Cobb - for their outstanding contributions with regards to intergenerational literacy.
Diana King, the Boulder Valley Spellbinders Chapter Leader, and Paulette Foss of the BVS Training Team are shown accepting the Nonprofit Literacy Award from Bob Carruthers – one of the members of the Boulder Flatirons Rotary Literacy Committee along with Rotarian Anne Feist, Public Image Committee. Paulette’s guide dog Clive approved of the award!
With the Literacy Award to a Boulder nonprofit, Boulder Flatirons Rotary has signified our continued support of Boulder Valley Spellbinders, acknowledging the impact on literacy that they have had since its founding which was funded by a BFR grant in 2015.
Like many non-profit volunteer-led organizations during COVID – BVS had real issues with retention, recruitment and navigating volunteerism issues with the Boulder Valley School District. Its volunteers faced the challenges of the pandemic head-on by embracing virtual and remote storytelling. Thankfully they thrived and their leader Diana King reports that they have resumed in-person oral storytelling! In 2022-23 Boulder Valley Spellbinders anticipates increasing membership by training and mentoring many new volunteers.
There are fourteen associated storytelling Spellbinders organizations mostly in Colorado. Its mission is to enhance literacy, encourage character development, and build intergenerational community through the traditional art of oral storytelling for the benefit of both listeners and storytellers. It helps to preserve cultural heritage through this unique art. It also enriches the lives of older adults by engaging them as productive and revered members of the community, a traditional purpose of elders.
In 2021-2022 Boulder Valley Spellbinders storytellers told to nearly 2,000 people in 19 Boulder Valley schools (70 classrooms), 2 senior facilities and 3 public forums (the Louisville History Museum, Boy Scout Pack 80, and the Lafayette YMCA Kinder Camp.) There were nearly 12,000 ‘spellbound’ listeners in total.
If your club would like to have Spellbinders storyteller in your area, or if you are interested in the training/volunteering, please visit www.Spellbinders.org.
The fellow winner of the Boulder Flatirons Rotary 2022 Literacy Award was presented to Susan Cobb for her extraordinary drive to engage and facilitate learning and the next generation of scientists.Pictured in-person with Boulder Flatirons Rotarian and BFR Literacy Committee member Dave Turner and BR President Lesli Groshong is Susan Cobb (center) - the Boulder Community Individual Award Literacy winner.
Susan is the lead of the communications team at the NOAA Global Systems Laboratory (GSL). She is passionate about making sure that the science done at GSL is understood by people in all walks of life. Susan works tirelessly on translating the often-challenging scientific advances into easy-to-understand points that are shared with all ages, from young children to older adults. Her work has been used in numerous public outreach activities over the last decade, both across the Boulder community and NOAA in general. Susan loves working with students, providing them glimpses into how science is done, and allowing them the opportunity to imagine themselves as future scientific leaders.
Susan also has a strong desire to engage more young people into science and improve their scientific literacy. She has led and coordinated numerous summer internships and other similar programs that bring students of all ages into GSL, providing the students glimpses into how science is done, and allowing them the opportunity to imagine themselves as future scientific leaders. Susan Cobb Inspiring the next generation of scientists at the NOAA 'When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors' event.
Susan contributed to several outreach efforts for NOAA Boulder, including leading the labs’ presence at the virtual CU Denver career fair in September 2021. This entailed developing the agenda, organizing NOAA Boulder professionals to speak and participate in the fair, and setting up the technical logistics for virtual participation. She also participated in the University of Maryland Baltimore County virtual career fair.
Susan also took the lead in coordinating the GSL student intern program. This entailed developing a new joint CU/GSL Summer Internship Program, working with CU administration to recruit and place 11 student interns through the CU/GSL program. She additionally facilitated the placement of 9 students in GSL through other intern programs, resulting in a total of 20 summer interns in GSL in 2022, which is the largest student contingent GSL has ever had. In addition to planning and overseeing this student program—including orientation, lunchtime learning sessions, career panels, and social activities—Susan is mentoring a Hollings student, providing her with communications experience in GSL.
For this extraordinary drive to engage and facilitate learning and the next generation of scientists, the Boulder Flatiron Rotary Club awarded Susan its 2022 Literacy Award.
Congratulations to our award recipients!Please consider how your club is, or could be, MAKING A DIFFERENCE by supporting basic education and literacy in your community or somewhere else in the world.