American International School - Riyadh ay th — Apalall Asya) Aa aad P.O, Box. 990 nina Riyadh 11431, Saud Arabia ayes Teh: 966-1-491-4370, a SS Fax906-1-491-7101 wena ‘Webote: wor ais ag S858 ; ae ee Dr. Brian Mathows Mr. Craig Randal, HS Principal ‘Superintendent ‘Ms. Nancy Jenkins, Assistant Principal Aa sRilh Ha pall pte alll ba 6 Superinendent@aist.ore hsprincpal stots pel aya aa ye ie als Tuesday 26! Fobrusry 2013 ‘To whom it may concern, Rhonda Lespennee Iehas been my pleasure to work with Rhonda since August 2012 in my position as International Baccalaureate Diploma Progsamme (DP) Extended Essay Coordinator and latterly as [B Coordinator From the beginning, Rhonda was proactive in planning end ereting sessions for Grade 11 Year | DP candidates as they embarced on their extended essays. She collaborated closely with me in idsatiying what students would need to know, understand and do and her carefully planned sessions actively involved al the students and explicitly reinforeed all the information communicated to the students by other means. The carefully designed step-by-step librazy programme has drave on the existing knowledge that students bud of how to use online resources, such as Noadlebib, as well as inroducing these resources to students new to our school. Rhonda's lively and engaging manner of presentation and the relationships she quickly strikes up with stents both complement the quality of the information being delivered and promote trust and confidence amongst students in Rhonds’s ability to support their learning. Rhonda has alse been an invaluable souree of information and inspiration. She has introduced us othe app Zite, which bes helped many students ‘ith dais research topies. She has rearranged the print resources in the library so thet former successful Extended Essays are easy fr students to fing ‘and read and that only relevant examples are accessible to the students, She has also fought hard forthe introduction of more useful and relevant ‘online libraries of reeacch material, such as Istor, Rhonda hes a detailed knowledge and understanding of what is reqvired by students at this level and as gone out of her way to provide them with exactly what they need. Atthougl my class was inthe library for an Extended Essay session, Rhonda’s enthusiasm for the Banned Books project saw us ll sign up fo create a presentation. She quickly organized us all, geve us resources and directed the resulting video that was showin on AIS-R TY. Byen the most retiring student ws curried away i the heat of the moment anal a a result, everyone inthe class participated ina way that made them fect confident and ‘comfortable, Asa result weal earned more about censorship and the power of the writin word to challenge and distur. ‘With Rhonda in charge, our library has become a vibrant and constantly changing environment, where new books are easy to find and where the presence of Pads and E-readers mean thatthe book a student has requested fs therein seconds rather than weeks, ‘Rhonda is commited to student learning and student success. She is bursting with ideas and enthusiasm and isthe perfect model ofa reader anc a lifelong learner. I recommend he to you wholeheartedly and entirely without reservation as someone wi will transfor your library and thus the Teaming of your students and teachers alike. Please do not hesitate co contact me if you need uny Further Information Yours: Naney ©. Jenkins “High Seliool Assistant Pi pal Coordinator NEASC ACCREDITED BY THE NEW ENGLAND ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES (8 CIS ACCREDITED BY THE COUNCIL OF INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS ¥ 1B INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE WORLD SCHOOL