Tiffany Shireman » North Clackamas Schools Assistant superintendent engaged -Inspired- ready North Clackamas School District ged - ins} ¢ 4444 SE Lake Rd., Milwaukie, OR 97222 email: shiremant@nclack.k12.0r.us (503) 353-6003 August 30, 2013, Dear Selection Committee: | am delighted to recommend Crystal Ellis for a counseling position in your school. Crystal is a strong candidate for any school, and I consider myself fortunate to have had the pleasure of working with her for two years as her supervisor. During those two years, Crystal worked at the elementary school where I was the principal. Crystal was # consistenty high-performing school counselor and behavior interventionist in a high poverty school serving kindergarten through 5” grade. She was a vital member of the school team and helped all staff to focus on ensuring that students were safe, engaged and ready to learn while at school. Crystal promoted student success by providing one-on-one emotional support for students and families, small group counseling ‘groups, social service referrals, behavior support plan development and whole-class guidance lessons focused on character education, Crystalis a strong problem solver who maintains a focused vision. She excels at building relationships with children and families, empowering them to come to her as a source of support. Crystal's habit of building strong relationships makes her approachable to staff, students, community members and parents. Ihave observed Crystal succeeding in dfficut situations where she needed to balance the needs of specific students with the needs of the school as a whole. She approached the issues thrown her way in a calm and natural way, and she focused on the needs of the students while ensuring that staff were receiving the information they needed to continue with their work. What | found striking about Crystal in this situation was that while she was successfully navigating this wide variety of tasks, she was able to maintain a focus on continuing preventative practices while implementing crisis management strategies. | can easily tecommend Crysial for a role in your organization. | would rehire Crystal in a heartbeat if| had an ‘opening on a school team and needed @ counselor, teacher, or behavior interventionist. Tiffany Shireman Assistant Superintendent