THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

OFFICE OF CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION

Room 860 EBA
Phone: (518) 474-5922
E-mail: emscurric@nysed.gov; Web: www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai

December 24, 2018

It is my great pleasure to write this letter of recommendation on behalf of Valerie Bellows, as she
applies for art teaching positions in your school or district. Valerie was my student at The College of New
Jersey from 2017-2018, during her junior level art education pedagogy courses. The two courses in which
she was my student included AAE 330 Pedagogy in Art Education (equivalent to a 4-credit course) and
Professional Practice in Art Education (equivalent to an 8-credit course).

In her coursework assignments, Valerie was always very thorough, going above and beyond what
other students produced. She would become very engaged in the subject matter on all major assignments,
doing extra research, spending additional time exploring ideas and information, and/or creating carefully
thought out lesson plans and teaching visuals. Her work was always of the highest quality. It should be
noted that Valerie also was a Resident Advisor in TCNJ freshman dorms, which meant she had a 24/7 job
in addition to her course commitments. I believe this gave her special insight into older students when she
began her secondary practicum; yet she was wonderful with early childhood learners too, as she was able
to create imaginative play experiences with art-making that they just loved.

Val was frequently part of collaborative projects as well as team teaching. Her classmates could count
on her to be the “techno-wizard” who would add those special flairs to presentations, create unique and
animated work, adventure into unfamiliar technical territory and then teach others how to use it. As a
classmate and team member, Val had the timing and delivery of a comedian, which captured her peers’
(and students’) attention, and provoked thoughtful exploration of the content at hand.

Under my direction, Val team taught for three weeks in an elementary school and three weeks in a
middle school, both located in the highest needs areas of the Trenton school district. As challenging as the
students were at times at the middle level, Val was able to keep her class moving, engage students
through creative applications of technology, and make art relevant to her students through careful
selection of contemporary art and artists. The students at middle level had just the right mix of choice and
guidance in integrating pop culture references into making artist trading cards. The work involved
drawing, painting and collage, allowing each student to approach the project in the way they could most
succeed. She and her team-teaching partner devised many positive, interactive formative assessment
methods that continuously checked on the students’ developing art knowledge and helped keep most on
task rather than lapsing into less productive behavior, or giving up. This setting was one of the most
challenging I have ever observed, and in 20 years of higher education, with an additional 10 years in P-
12, I have been in every kind of school setting and experienced every level of socio-economic need. The
two partners worked intensely and put many extra hours into their planning to help reach their students. In
three weeks, they were able to achieve success with a healthy percentage of their students. Given the
circumstances and short amount of time with which to build relationships, this was notable.

At the elementary level, Val and her teaching partner created an ingenious body/shapes lesson based
on humorous contemporary work by a European sculptor. This lesson touched upon many things that are
fascinating and meaningful to very young students, from shapes and colors and collage and glue to
personality, clothing and – accessories! The team built in literacy instruction through a make-believe
“interview with the artist” session in which students eagerly answered questions about their designs using
vocabulary prompts. The partners nurtured their young students to create exciting and delightful works of
art, to increase their vocabulary with pride, and to be joyful in the act of exploring art and explaining their
work. They were firm and clear about behavioral and performance expectations, without a lot of drama.
Yet at the same time, each teaching partner was flexible and compassionate when students needed some
extra understanding and support, or just an emotional safe space for a time.

One of Val’s defining characteristics was her passionate commitment to social justice issues and to
students with extra needs/challenges. Her experiences with student teaching in high needs schools meant
that what she believed in the abstract had to translate into real time and space, and within an unfamiliar
cultural orientation. She left her practica with a much more nuanced picture of how poverty and racism
play out in public schooling, yet her passion was undimmed.

I am so glad Val has kept in touch with me over the past year as she student-taught and I moved on to
my current position at NYSED. She was one of those students that you always remember, and know will
make a mark on her world. She will be a valued addition to any teaching staff, and I recommend her for
any teaching level.

Please feel free to contact me with any further questions you may have.

Sincerely,

Jennifer L. Childress
Instructional Associate for the Arts
jennifer.childress@nysed.gov
518-474-5922 (w)
518-441-4849 (m)