March 19, 2015

To Whom It May Concern:

It is a pleasure to recommend Josephine Heyl for the Internship Program at the National
Technical for the Deaf. I had the pleasure of knowing her well by having her as a student
in the Intermediate ASL IV and Advanced ASL VI.
Josephine was an outstanding student. She blended her brightness with maturity and
appropriateness that made her a challenge as a student in the most positive ways. She
managed her school work, school-related stress, etc., in productive ways that allowed her
to do well academically and get along with the other students.
Josephine is fluent in ASL expressively and receptively. In my class she excelled at
expressing both simple and more complex topics in a variety of discourse types. When
analyzing her ASL performances in class, Josephine was able to identify and discuss her
strengths and weaknesses. She sought and accepted suggestions from her instructor and
peers. She was able to make changes and improve her expressive and receptive skills. In
addition, she offered constructive criticism and critiqued others including viable
suggestions for improvement.
One of the most positive comments I would make regarding Josephine, is that she avails
herself regularly of opportunities in the area to be with deaf people in social and
volunteer activities, and it is evident in her school work that she is gaining both
linguistically and culturally from this approach. In addition, she is currently employed as
an ASL tutor for the ASL & Interpreting Department since fall of 2014.
In conclusion, it is a pleasure teaching Josephine as a student who is very passionate
about Deaf peoples language and culture and makes the effort to advance her ASL skills.
Im confident that she will be a great access to the Deaf community and interpreter
community as an interpreter and a friend. I highly recommend her without any
reservations.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Siebert
Assistant Professor
ASL & Interpreting Department
St. Catherine University
essiebert@stkate.edu