NEDERLAND - This year, more than 4,000 Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) employees were eligible for the Blake Peterson Lifetime Achievement Award. Each year, there are a number of nominees, and the Peterson family chooses one person in the district to receive the award, which honors Blake, who died in 2017. 

The award is given to a BVSD employee who has shown a commitment of service to BVSD students, and commitment to student equal opportunity and equity. 

This year the recipient is a teacher from Nederland Middle-Senior High School (NMSHS). A teacher who is in her 40th and final year of teaching at NMSHS—Liz Evans. 

Evans has been teaching vocal and instrumental music and theater at NMSHS for four decades. 

Principal Gavan Goodrich scheduled a meeting with Evans before lunch on February 28. Unknown to Evans, students and staff were gathering in the auditorium, along with Blake Peterson’s family and Allison Billings, Executive Director of Impact on Education.

While meeting with Evans, Goodrich was called to attend to a matter in the auditorium, and when he and Evans walked in, the crowd stood and erupted in applause. 

That is how you pull off a surprise for a teacher who has been in the same building for 40 years and knows almost everything that is going on. 

When someone is nominated for this award, there must be letters of recommendation accompanying the nomination form. These letters said things like “Ms. Evans is a tireless advocate for the arts in education.”

And she is indeed a tireless advocate for the arts at NMSHS. Her students have excelled because she is dedicated to the craft and to them. One student said, “She taught me how to create art that was meaningful and powerful.” 

Evans has poured her heart and soul into her work, and it shows in her students when they are playing, singing, and performing on stage. 

After hearing about the honor, coming on stage, and receiving flowers and balloons, Ms. Evans thanked everyone and emphasized to the students at NMSHS that “You may be at a small school, but you are not small.”

Evans has been teaching sixth graders to twelfth graders in Nederland band, choir, and theater. With those subjects comes teaching each other patience, teamwork, confidence, punctuality, responsibility, respect, and kindness. Also, her students learn how to calm their nerves, and to have a passion for the art. 

Liz Evans has had a profound impact on the Nederland community, on Nederland Middle-Senior High School, on their music and theater department, and on students’ lives for decades. It is truly a celebration that she is recognized for her work beyond the walls of NMSHS.