School of Education Drake — UNIVERSITY 2507 University Avenue Des Moines, lowa som-4s05 1 as-an-2054 F sise2neaa3s 3-f00-44-DRAKE(37253) 2054 January 11, 2019 Dear Principal Selection Committee: It is my pleasure to write this letter in support of Ryan Fedders’ candidacy as a leader in your district. have had the pleasure of knowing and working with Ryan for two years during his Educational Leadership program at Drake University. During that time | have served as Ryan’s instructor for three ‘courses and have found him to be an outstanding student. He is a strong thinker and problem solver ‘who has been able to not only learn the course content, but more importantly understands how to apply that learning as a school leader. He demonstrates qualities of effective instructional leadership, with a strong grasp of the common core and effective assessment practices. His learning has moved from academic to the practical world of schoo! leadership, with a heavy focus on instruction and learning. ‘have appreciated Ryan’s work outside of the classroom setting as well. For two years Ryan has been an integral member of the Drake Continual Improvement Network, an organization that brings educational leaders together to continue to learn and support one another in the area of continual improvement. Not only has Ryan been a contributing member of the Network, he has also served as a presenter, sharing how continual improvement practices can be applied at the classroom level, particularly as a method to give students a greater voice in their own learning. Ryan works effectively as a member of collaborative work teams and at the same time is viewed by others as a leader in the cohort. He is well-respected by his peers as well as faculty at Drake. In my “previous life” | served as the superintendent of the Urbandale Community School District. One of my most important responsibilities was to identify and hire new principals to lead schools. Based on this experience | urge you to give serious consideration to Ryan Fedders as a candidate in your district. 1 believe his is an up-and-coming educational leader in the state of lowa who can lead and facilitate the ‘ongoing improvement of any school of which he Is a part.