105 Garfield Avenue P.O.

Box 4004 Eau Claire, WI 54702-4004

March 14, 2014, Teacher Selection Committee, My name is Marquell Johnson and I am an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire and formerly served as the Program Director for the Physical Education Teacher Education Program. It is with great pleasure that I write this letter of recommendation for Jacki Zwiefelhofer for consideration as a physical education teacher candidate. I have known Jacki for 5 years as her instructor, advisor, and one of her student teaching supervisors. As a student, Jacki was always prepared, enthusiastic, and engaged in discussions with her peers and instructors. Jacki demonstrated a consistent commitment to academic excellence during her 5 years of undergraduate education. This commitment was demonstrated by her ability to increase and maintain high academic standards in her course work while at the same time working full time and participating in Students for Health, Adventure, and Physical Education (SHAPE) club events. During her practicum teaching experiences, cooperating teachers and university supervisors spoke very highly of her abilities and potential as a future educator. Jacki is highly motivated to learn as much as she can to provide fun, engaging, and developmentally appropriate activities for the children she teaches. She understands the importance of being a role model to children and strives to set a positive example both professionally and personally. Jacki has several strengths but her main strengths, from my observations, are her work ethic and desire to become an impactful teacher. Throughout her many practicum and volunteer experiences, Jacki worked with diverse groups of students. She was an active lead volunteer in the Physical Activity and Recreation for Individuals with Disabilities in the Eau Claire area (PRIDE) program that provides children with disabilities ages 5 16 the opportunity to further develop fundamental locomotor and object-control skills. She was also the only female undergraduate student in our program to successfully complete a portion of her APE practicum at the Eau Claire Academy, which services students identified as at-risk and/or severe emotional/behavioral disabilities. As her former advisor, I witnessed the transformation of a very timid and unconfident freshmen from a small town to a bold and self-assured young woman. I believe this transformation is a testament of Jackis resolve and work ethic. Jacki is an outstanding future educator who relentlessly gives of herself and her time to ensure that her students are engaged in physical activity. She is intelligent, dependable, diligent, enthusiastic, and cares about the improvement of the children she teaches and her improvement as a teacher. She works well with others and is willing to learn from others. She effectively communicates the value of physical education to all interested parties. Im confident that Jacki will be very impactful at the school and in the community where she is hired. I highly recommend her for your teaching position. Feel free to contact me with any further questions regarding Jacki.

Marquell Johnson, Ph.D., CSCS Assistant Professor

Excellence. Our measure, our motto, our goal.

Department of Kinesiology McPhee Center 227 715-836-3948 fax: 715-836-4074 e-mail: johnmarq@uwec.edu