To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is written in behalf of Tara Schurman to advocate for your consideration of her as a
candidate for a teaching position in your district.
Tara was a member of my class EDUC 20003 at TCU as an undergraduate student who was
desiring to obtain a teaching certificate to join the ranks of our noble profession. During this
time, she distinguished herself by modeling the attributes of an excellent student --turning in all
assignments promptly and effectively; contributing to discussions in this large class of 100
students, attending all Field Experiences throughout the semester, demonstrating mastery of the
content of the course through the quizzes and exams and earning an A in this class.
The privilege was mine to again know and work with Tara in the spring semester of 2014 as her
student teaching supervisor at TCU when she was in clinical supervision at Birdville Elementary
for the Birdville ISD in the first grade classroom of Mrs. Chris Fletcher. Tara received accolades
from her cooperating teacher who said that she always was positive, upbeat and had a happy
energy as well as having an excellent understanding of how children learn best. As I observed
Tara's teaching, I noticed that she was exceedingly responsive to each individual student's needs
and had a large repertoire of strategies to employ with each student. Tara brought creativity and
fun to her lessons as exemplified by the time I observed her as she successfully led her firstgrade students on their quest of discovery of animal traits. To help students become aware that
each animal and human is made up of a DNA chain, she used the analogy of a recipe. Students
excitedly made their recipe for a dog/a DNA chain. Then they drew their dogs using their DNA
chain: the epitome of learning being fun.
Tara has demonstrated her commitment to becoming a master teacher by successfully working to
obtain her MEd degree from TCU this May. She holds high expectations for herself and is a
catalyst that sparks and creates extraordinary results. It is for these reasons that I highly
recommend Tara Schurman for your consideration as a teacher in your district. She shines forth
as the true definition of excellence.
"Excellence is potential chiseled into a more perfect state through vision,
dedication and determination."
Sincerely,
Carolyn Kitchens
College of Education
Texas Christian University
TCU Box 297900
Fort Worth, Texas 76129
817-312-6872