Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies

P.O. Box 5190 Kent, Ohio 44242-0001

Phone: (330) 672-2580 Fax: (330) 672-3246 http://www.ehhs.kent.edu/tlc/





March 14, 2014

To Whom It May Concern:

Its my pleasure to recommend Melissa Sawyer for employment in your school district.
Melissa has been my student in a class called Teaching Language and Composition. I
believe I can confidently speak about her abilities.

Melissas communication skills have impressed me from the very beginning. If you get a
chance to interview her, I think you will see this immediately. And certainly the ability to
communicate has got to be near the top of desired skills for teachers. But of course good
teaching is more than being able to communicate. If you spend just a few minutes with
Melissa, youll see just how passionate she is about teaching and learning, particularly in the
English/language arts classroom. I have been particularly impressed with Melissas attitude
about her student teaching placement at Nordonia High School. She really cares about her
students and I know they care about her. She describes her student teaching experience as a
blast, and she means it.

During the class I taught, this last fall, I was able to read and assess Melissas 10-day unit
focused on science fiction that she wrote to be taught at Nordonia, and I thought she did an
excellent job of coming up with creative, engaging teaching strategies that used new
technologies while being true to the Core as well as to her cooperating teachers wishes. It
was clear to me that Melissa is constantly trying to come up with ways of meeting her
students needs. It is great to see someone so excited about her future careerthis
excitement is infectious and I know it will be of benefit to her future students as well as her
future colleagues.

In sum, Ive been extremely impressed with Melissas work both in class and in the field
where she is an unfailingly positive addition to collaborative work. If you hire Melissa, you
will get a collaborative, inventive, positive colleague. I recommend Melissa without
reservation. Please dont hesitate to write (wkist@kent.edu) or call (330-672-5839) if you
have any questions.

Sincerely,


William Kist, Ph.D.
Associate Professor