Elsinboro Twp.

School
631 Salem-Ft. Elfsborg Rd.
Salem, NJ 08079

Friday, May 15, 2020

To Whom it May Concern:

It is with great pleasure that I recommend Ms. Casey Urion to be hired as a teacher in your
school district. Ms. Urion has worked closely with me in my Kindergarten classroom at
Elsinboro Twp. School since August 2019, when I first became acquainted with her at my annual
meet-and-greet for new Kindergartners. Although the school year had not yet officially begun,
Ms. Urion was more than willing to attend and assist, and her warm and caring demeanor was
immediately easy to see as she met the children. This first meeting was the beginning of many
successful and enjoyable days working together with our class.

Ms. Urion has been diligent with her attendance during her clinical internship and practice, and
always willing to put in the extra hours before and after the school day that good teaching often
requires. She has followed all protocols and requirements for her program at Rowan University,
but more importantly to me, she was willing to “dig in” to teaching and put her heart into it.
Anyone who has done it knows that teaching Kindergarten is not for the faint of heart! Ms. Urion
was always kind, attentive, and thoughtful about the children’s needs, both as individuals and as
a class. She was calm and assertive with classroom management, helping keep students on task
and learning, and became adept at using Class Dojo to keep track of student behavior, and even
took it upon herself to document activities in our classroom with photographs and captions to
help parents see all that their children were learning. She worked collaboratively with me in our
daily teaching, and communicated well with all school faculty and colleagues. Ms. Urion
followed our Kindergarten curriculum, which includes Morning Meeting, Writing, ELA
(specifically working with literature and phonics/phonemic awareness), Math, Science, Learning
Centers/Guided Reading Groups, and Social Skills/Social Studies. When she wrote and planned
her own lessons, they were well-organized. Her plans addressed cross-curricular considerations
and New Jersey state standards, were engaging to the class, and were differentiated appropriately
to recognize the needs of learners of the many levels of academic readiness in Kindergarten. I
will always remember how excited the children were for her lesson about light refraction and
rainbows, when the children were able to create their own “rainbows” with Skittles, and to see a
rainbow using a prism and light. Her energy and enthusiasm for teaching, combined with her
calm and caring demeanor, are a perfect combination for a successful teacher.
When our school had to close beginning March 17 to begin distance education, Ms. Urion
remained steadfast and adaptable in her teaching. She was able to design and implement video
lessons and online content including Google Slides that enabled our students to continue
receiving the best instruction possible considering the challenges pitted against our schools in
recent months. She attended Zoom meetings and commented on student work, encouraging them
even as we were all far apart. Ms. Urion is familiar with and able to utilize technology and
resources that can be used for both classroom instruction and distance learning. Her assistance
and participation has been invaluable to me as a veteran teacher as I have had to adapt to
teaching in a totally new way.

While I am sad to see her move on, I wish Ms. Urion all the best as she begins her teaching
career. I know she is well-prepared, and her hard-working and caring attitude will bring her far.
If you should have any questions or would like to discuss my recommendation further, I can be
reached at ​eschneider@elsinboroschool.org​, or at (609) 202-5424.

Thank you,

Mrs. Elizabeth Schneider

Kindergarten Classroom Teacher
Elsinboro Twp. School