BIO
Dr. Evangeline Roybal Sena grew up on a farm in the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado. Mt. Blanca was visible out of her kitchen window and served as daily inspiration. She earned Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from Adams State College, Alamosa, Colorado in 1957 and 1961. She earned her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 1983. In 1991, she received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education.
After retiring from the Denver Public Schools, she joined the Jeffco Spellbinders (a group of oral storytellers in Jefferson County, Colorado) so she could return to the school setting to tell stories to children. She and her husband, Val Sena, were awarded the Premio Hilos Culturales (Cultural Threads Award) for their longtime contributions to the traditional folk arts of Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado in September 2018. She was inducted into the Adams State University Educators Hall of fame in May 2020. She and Val have been married for 62 years; they have four children, ten grandchildren. and twelve great grandchildren.