Paula J. Radden-Levich

Paula J. Radden-Levich of Aurora, CO, passed away peacefully on April 10, 2024 at the age of 77. Paula was born in Billings, MT in 1946 to Myron and Agnes Skurdal and grew up in nearby Fromberg, MT with her younger sister Pamela. Paula helped over the summers working in a variety of farm fields and later at the local A&W root beer stand up the way in Bridger, MT. She graduated from high school in 1964 and took with her a growing passion for education.

Paula went on to attend a junior college in 1965. She focused on her education, and she participated in many activities, one she loved was cheerleading. Cheerleading started sowing the seeds of encouragement for her many efforts later in life and was in fact a champion to many throughout her professional career.

While in college she met Roger Radden, and they married. When Roger was deployed to Vietnam she worked as a Civil Service Secretary to Army Colonel Andre at Fort Huachuca, AZ, where she had top secret clearance. A major accomplishment for a young woman from a small town in the early 70s. Soon she returned to her studies at Eastern Montana College (later known as Montana State University) and she focused on a Bachelor of Education degree in primary education, graduating in 1971.

In 1971 she entered the education field, where she taught for many years as a multi-grade teacher, in grades 3-5, at Garfield Elementary in Billings, MT. Early in Paula’s career she walked the picket line for teacher raises in Montana, a sign of a trailblazer as a young teacher. During her time there she and Roger welcomed their son, Andrew, in 1976. A few years later they divorced and soon after, Paula moved to Colorado to begin the next chapter of her life.

In the early 1980s she began as a Primary Educator at Crawford Elementary, in the Aurora Public Schools district, and continued teaching at other schools like Sable Elementary, Park Lane Elementary, and several other Title 1 schools. While teaching, she continued her education and worked tirelessly to achieve so much while building and nurturing her relationships with fellow educators, administrators, students, and families. She eventually received her Master of Education. During her time teaching she married again, to Jon Levich, who passed away in 2001.

Over the years her innate leadership skills played out throughout her career in the Aurora Public Schools first as a classroom teacher, then at the district level and later at Central Office. There are so many achievements, awards, and many other accolades that her list could go on forever. To highlight a few of these (as told from peer recollection):

• As all educators know, a major part of teacher evaluation is having both an informal and formal evaluation done by the school principal…Paula is the only one I know who has worn a prom dress for her “formal” evaluation

• At the Central Office, she was the Teacher on Special Assignment (TSA) for Mentoring for 28 Elementary Schools, 7 Middle and 6 High Schools

• Paula was a key staff member in developing the curriculum for Diagnostic Prescriptive Math and the Mentor Program and therefore was a natural, as an instructor for the district-wide training.

• For District Level Special Projects, she continued at this level to teach students but moved to helping many other teachers in the Aurora Publics improve their skills and enhance instruction for children. This included:

o Lead Teacher for PAS--Program for Assessment and Support and taught classes for the Primary Curriculum (grades K-1, Title 1 Schools)

o Lead Teacher for DP Math--Diagnostic Prescriptive Math. She wrote curriculum and taught classes for DP Math (grades 1-5)

o Mentor as a classroom teacher. She wrote curriculum and taught mentoring classes for the District

o Lead District Resource Teacher (DRT) for Mentoring for 28 Elementary Schools

o Member of the Facilitator Cadre, a group that helped present facilitation skill (all 41 schools and sites)

Paula worked with likely more educators (teachers and administrators from more than 41 schools and support staff from many District sites) than any other employee in the Aurora Public Schools related to Primary Curriculum, Math, Mentoring and Facilitation Skills. After more than 40 years of teaching, mentoring and leading, she finally decided it was time to retire from her education journey and officially retired in 2009.

Paula entered retirement with ease. She took these skills with her into her retirement as they played out through her loyal friendships. She always made sure everyone was doing OK, all the time, constantly checking in on friends and family. She adored calling, chatting, sharing her wonderful wisdom, unique sense of humor and the occasional laugh that often brought on tears and side pains! Even when her friends and family weren’t so great she pushed them to become their better selves. She traveled with her son and her soon to be daughter-in-law, Joslyn, to Mexico where she discovered a love for the beach, sunsets, and margaritas. She traveled with friends and always enjoyed the adventure of experiencing something new. She welcomed grandchildren Charlotte and Miles, loving each moment she spent with them. She joined a writing class, Creative Juices, at Parkview Congregational Church in Aurora where she shared her on going interest in writing and learning about others.

On a whim, she took a class through the city for polymer clay. This class began the spark that later molded the clay into a medium for her happiness, countless conversations, creativity, and source for her energy to pour in to. She adored making clay inspirations with friends, her grandchildren, and especially her sister Pam. They would spend hours late at night working through art pieces and often worked off each other to create exquisite pieces of jewelry. She gifted many pieces to friends, often saying that would give her more space and time to make more creations. As her skill progressed, she was invited to display and sell her work at a juried art show where she beamed in the light of other fellow artists.

Paula is survived by her son Andrew (and Joslyn) of Aurora, CO, her two grandchildren Charlotte and Miles, and her sister Pamela. This compassionate, funny, generous, tolerant, and forever friend will be missed by all, but will live on in our hearts. We will all cherish the memories that she brought to every person who had the honor to be a part of her life.

Per her wishes, her family has planned a celebration of her life: May 16th, 2024, at the Parkview Congregational Church in Aurora, CO from 1-3 pm. Please join us if you wish.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that, per her wishes, donations in her name be made to the Denver Dumb Friends League (DDFL) at this link: https://ddfl.rallyup.com/paularaddenlevich/Campaign/Details.