Tallwood High School

Global Studies and World Languages Academy

1668 Kempsville Road, Virginia Beach VA, 23464 (757) 648-5700 Fax (757) 479-5534

May 19, 2020

To the Future Teacher Award Committee:

This letter is on behalf of Khyannia Banks, a VTFT II student who is applying for the Future Teacher Award.

Khyannia is a great VTFT student because she is motivated, passionate, and a deep thinker. Khyannia is
often quieter than other students, but I’ve learned that she is always engaged and processing in her mind! She
did an awesome job of learning the unique time-management skills that are required of a VTFT student who
is planning lessons for students at their internship while also still a full-time high school student.

Both of Khyannia’s internships were in Kindergarten classes, but at different schools. In her VTFT I
internship, she saw half-day kindergarten with a dynamic teacher who basically “threw her in” and gave her
LOTS of opportunities to interact with the students! This was perfect for Khy (from my perspective!) since
she is someone who always thinks things through, and her cooperating teacher raved about her ability to
connect with the students. In VTFT II, Khy was given a lot of freedom to teach lessons, and by doing this she
was able to learn a lot about what kindergarteners know and need to learn.

An area where Khyannia went above and beyond in VTFT is her involvement in Educators Rising. Last year,
as a junior, she was involved in the team that competed in the Researching Learning Challenges competition
at the state competition. Khy and her group researched and presented on how to serve students with
intellectual disabilities. They qualified for and attended the Educators Rising National Conference in Dallas,
TX last summer. The theme of this conference was on equity, and many of the speakers--including the
national teacher of the year and many other teacher leaders-- discussed anti-racist teaching and the
importance of multicultural education, which Khy is passionate about.

In conclusion, I believe Khyannia has the potential to be a world-changing educator, and I think VBCPS
would benefit if she is back here teaching as my colleague in 405 y via the Future Teacher Award!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Jenna Free

VTFT Teacher & Coordinator