MISSION
Our mission is to foster early literacy bonds between children and their parents to ensure that all young children from Aspen to Parachute develop a love of books and the skills to become successful readers.
STAFF & BOARD

Cindy is excited to work with the RAR Team and partner with our valley’s families, schools, and libraries to promote early childhood language development and parent and child bonding through the shared adventure of reading aloud and exploring the wonderful world of books. Cindy has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder and has worked with local non-profit organizations for 15+ years, most recently with a program that prepares and empowers first-generation college students for the social, emotional, and academic landscape of college. Although her boys are mostly grown, Cindy still visits the Hundred Acre Wood and gathers acorns of wisdom from A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh.

Mary Margaret Hesse – Director of Programs & Strategies P: 970-230-9117 E: marymargaret@rar4kids.org
Mary Margaret is the Raising A Reader Program Coordinator for Glenwood Springs and Carbondale. Her professional background is in foreign affairs; she served as a U.S. diplomat overseas and in Washington DC with the State Department and as a civilian with the Defense Department before returning to her native Colorado. She loves to read and is a huge fan of America’s wonderful public libraries. Some of her favorite children’s books include Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig, Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey, the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and the Frog and Toad series by Arnold Lobel. Mary Margaret has a master’s degree in international security from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and English with a mathematics minor from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and French.
Iliana Renteria - Associate Director P: 970-230-9117 E: iliana@rar4kids.org
Iliana moved to Colorado from Mexico, where she worked for the National Institute of Public Health as the academic support for the Masters in Economic Health Sciences. She has years of medical training and finished her Psychology studies in Mexico. She also has worked with children as an English teacher and has a passion for books, science, and early childhood education. A strong believer in the power of books and early literacy, she hopes to inspire families to read together and positively impact many children's lives in our valley. She is fluent in English and Spanish.
iliana@rar4kids.org
Rosa Vargas - Program Coordinator P: 970-230-9117 E: rosa@rar4kids.org
Rosa is originally from Mexico but has lived in Colorado for many years. She studied at the Instituto Tecnologico in Mexico and learned English at Colorado Mountain College and with the help of volunteer Bill Climble, who along with his wife Ivy have been like family to Rosa and her children ever since . She is very active in the community and in her children’s schools. She also is the secretary for a family concrete business. Rosa radiates love of humanity and children in particular – a perfect fit for her work guiding RAR programs in several classrooms and facilitating weekly Bolsitas Rojas (Little Red Book Bags) outreach sessions. Her favorite book to read to her children was The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Rosa loves spending time with her husband and three daughters. She enjoys dancing, cooking and spending time in nature. She is fluent in English and Spanish.
rosa@rar4kids.org
Liz Russo- Program Coordinator P: 970-230-9117 E: liz@rar4kids.org
Elizabeth Russo is originally from Chihuahua, Mexico and has been living in the USA for 18 years. She worked as a preschool teacher for the Head Start program in Carbondale and Rifle for seven years, then moved on to work with the Preschool On Wheels program (Gus the Bus) for another seven years. Prior to that she was a licensed child care provider in the State of Colorado for two years. Liz attended Colorado Mountain College to learn English and also earned her Child Development Associate Credential. Liz loves working with children and their families. She enjoys teaching children to read and developing her knowledge about child development and social-emotional development. Her hobbies include cooking and spending time with her family.
ANGIE DAVLYN, Ph.D
President
Senior Project Manager,
Roaring Fork School District
Carbondale, CO
HILARY DRUMMOND
Member
Clinic Director,
Roaring Fork Family Practice
Carbondale, CO
BRETT LEAR
Member
Executive Director,
Garfield County Public Libraries
Rifle, CO
DR. ANNA LORENSON
Vice President
Pediatrician,
Grand River Health
Rifle, CO
BOARD of TRUSTEES
KSANA OGELSBY
Treasurer
CPA and CFO,
Mountain Valley Developmental Services
Glenwood Springs, CO
JAMIE NIMS
Member
Head of School,
Two Rivers Community School
Glenwood Springs, CO
HISTORY/TIMELINE
Organization founded in Aspen by Jayne Poss when she learns that 50% of children in many local schools enter kindergarten without adequate oral language skills. Programs reaches 391 children.
2004
2009
Rick Blauvelt becomes Executive Director.
2016
Red bags reach 1,800 families
Neighborhood outreach (Bolsitas Rojas) sessions begin in five communities.
2012
2012
RAR launches new series of mid-year parent presentations and discussion groups.
At the request of several local schools, RAR begins programs for kindergarten classrooms
2013
Cumulative attendance at parent sessions reaches 1,200 (48 sessions)
2014
Cindy Blachly becomes Executive Director.
2019
COMMUNITIES WE REACH
Parachute ~ Rifle~ Silt ~ New Castle ~Glenwood Springs ~
Carbondale ~ Basalt~ Snowmass~ Aspen








Snowmass

2018-19 Community funding partners
$20,000+
Anonymous
$10,000 - $19,999
Aspen Community Foundation
Buell Foundation
Chevron
Kids First
Pettit Foundation
Pitkin County
$5,000 - $9,999
Anonymous
Anschutz Family Foundation
Garfield County BOCC
Melony and Adam Lewis
United Way of Eagle River Valley
$2,500 - $4,999
Alpenglow Foundation
Alpine Bank
Aspen Thrift Shop
Bessie Minor Swift Foundation
City of Aspen
Fred and Elli Iselin Foundation
J. Robert Young Foundation
Laura and Michael Kaplan
Bill and Sheila Lambert
Rifle Community Foundation
Rotary Club of Glenwood Springs
Frank and Tamara Woods
$1,000 - $2,499
Aspen Skiing Company Family Fund
Kelly and Emily Boggs
Castaways Foundation
City of Glenwood Springs
LuLu Colby
Gallegos Corporation
Holy Cross Energy Round-up Foundation
Town of Basalt
Umbrella Roofing
Robin Van Norman and Jim Vickroy
Wells Fargo Foundation
$500 - $999
Susan Dampier
Ernie and Lacy Fyrwald
Grand Valley Kiwanis Foundation
Mt. Callahan Community Fund
Mandy and John Murray
$500 - $999
Robert and Marci Musser
Jayne and Bill Poss
Terri and Sam Potter
Rifle Chamber of Commerce
SGM
Terra Energy Partners
Town of Carbondale
Walmart - Glenwood Springs
$100 - $499
Daniel Adams
Aspen Reprographics
Bridget and Rick Balentine
Rick Blauvelt and Candace Goodwin
Richard Blauvelt
Carl J. Ciani Insurance Agency
Anonymous
Deborah Dawson & Dean Gordon
Katelyn Derderian
Paula Derevensky
Dave & Ann Nicholson
Greg and Kathy Feinsinger
Deborah and Scott Fifer
Tish Filiss
Donna Fisher and Skip Behrhorst
Amy French
K T Gazunis
Harriman Construction
Andy and Jody Hecht
Peter Helburn
Judith Huston
Vicki and Sam Johnson
Anonymous
Glen and Tracy Larner
Nancy and Barton Levin
William Lightstone
Dr. Anna Lorenson
Katie and Ryan Mackley
Brendan Matthias
Lynda Palevsky
Marci and Robert Pattillo
Courtney and Dan Petre
Peter and Mary Ellen Rogers
Dr. Katha Rossein and Dr. Ron Razzore
Rebecca Ruland and Terry Shanahan
Linda and Jay Sandrich
Marina Sharpe
Amelia Shelley
Lorraine Spector
$100 - $499
Jennifer Springer
Kim Stacey
Betsy Suerth
Pam Yarus and Theron Russell
Jennifer Zetah
Up to $99
20/20 Eyecare
Anonymous
William Anschuetz
Bookbinders
Kim Brown
Georgia Chamberlain
Nicole Christianson
Lisa Dancing Light
Erika Delak
Terrie and Dennis Drake
Hilary Drummond
Ed and Vivian Elbert
Siobhan Farey
Nancy Frizell
Stacey and Rob Gavrell
Darrell and Judy Green
Ruth Harrison
Marianne Keating
Wewer Keohane
Kathleen Kime
Tate LaFountain
Pamela Lauman
Christine and Andrew Light
Marian McDonough
Sharon McLin
Theresa Miller
Julie Olson
Connie Orcutt
Carol Pasternak
Carrie Podl
Diane and Murray Reynolds
Eliza Robison
Tami Solondz
Bernard Sultan
Saundra Swanson
Blythe Tardie
Robin Tolan
Donna Ward
Michael and Dorothy Wells
Garland and Anne White
Susan and Vincent Yoder
Gary and Thelma Zabel