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Girard heading to CSU

Cindy Ramunno

Jennifer Girard was born in Vail and has lived in the same house in downtown Eagle her entire life. The Eagle Valley senior is known to neighborhood kids as the ‘favorite baby sitter,’ and during her younger years, you’d always see her outside with her dad Tom playing volleyball or shooting hoops. This fall, the dark-haired stunner will attend Colorado State University to pursue a degree in Child Psychology with a minor in vocal performance.

In addition to singing, Girard played golf for Eagle Valley and has logged a tremendous amount of community volunteer hours. During her eighth grade year at Eagle Valley Middle School, she worked with the special education department at the neighboring Eagle Valley Elementary. Girard’s parents, Tom Girard and Cheri Paller, have always been a huge support system for her, and she says she’ll miss them next year. “My parents are awesome ” they do so much for me,” she says.

She recently was an assistant for Gypsum Elementary counselor Cindy Allard, and that’s when she knew for sure that child psychology was the right fit for her. “Ms. Allard could format a program that was specialized for each individual student,” gushes Girard. “Watching her work and watching the improvement in the kids was amazing,” she adds. Girard says that the one internship experience at Gypsum shaped her thinking about psychology ” especially the child aspect. “Ms. Allard is a great counselor ” I was so impressed with her skills and abilities,” Girard says.



Allard was equally impressed. “Jen has a great rapport with the kids and she’s very open and approachable,” says Allard, who adds that she believes she’ll do very well in the profession. “Jen is very poised and extremely responsible.”


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