Friday, May 23, 2014

To whom it may concern:

Please accept this enthusiastic recommendation in praise of Ashley Bowers, her commitment to
and passion for the field of education, and her ability to successfully provide thoughtful, high-
quality learning opportunities for children.

I have known Ashley since August 2012 when I hired her to serve as the Associate Teacher in my
multi-age, three-days-a-week preschool classroom at the Child Development Center Kent State
Universitys laboratory school in Kent, Ohio. Ashley was with me for the entire 2012-2013 school
year, during which time our classrooms student body included 20 students, divided evenly by
gender, who at the start of the school year ranged from 2.10 to 4.10 years in age. Our
classroom community reflected a range of economic backgrounds, family structures, and cultural
and linguistic experiences, as well as a wide range of developmental abilities.

Ashley was an exemplary Associate Teacher and possesses many traits that made our classroom
a more caring, productive, and educational community and that helped to foster the positive
growth and development of all community members children and adults alike. Ashley showed a
deep understanding of child development and educational best practice, and she used that
knowledge in the planning of thoughtful, purposeful interactions with students. Her lessons and
interactions both formal and informal demonstrated her ability to address the needs of
children at a variety of ages and developmental abilities, as well as a sound understanding of
how to create and implement hands-on, child-centered learning opportunities in all core content
areas and aligned with Early Learning Standards and educational best practices.

Ashley is an instinctively strong educator who is very observant and responsive in her teaching.
She approaches children with patience and caring and works to support them in the attainment of
their full academic potential. Despite still being very early in her teacher training, Ashley needed
little guidance or direction to produce high-quality educational experiences for the children in our
care. She was adept at working with the whole group, small groups, and individuals. Our
classroom included several students with specialized learning needs, and Ashley was able to
identify and work to address the needs of individuals while remaining aware of and attending to
the needs of the larger class. She welcomed feedback on her work and used it to fuel her
continued growth as a professional.

Over the school year, Ashley also developed a comfortable rapport with families and was an
active participant in parent/teacher conferences, participated in school-wide social events for
families, and actively supported the facilitation of evening events for the families in our classroom.
She routinely provided thoughtful and perceptive feedback on student development, growth, and
goal setting and was an active participant and important asset to the larger teaching team. In
addition, the materials Ashley prepared for parents and caregivers, including daily reflections,
blog posts, portfolio entries, and letters, were always professional and well-written, and she was
comfortable engaging families in dialogue each day during drop-off and pick-up times.

In addition, Ashley had the important responsibility of serving as a role model for the many pre-
service teachers who worked in our classroom. Over the course of the school year, Ashley actively
engaged with four student teachers, four field students, and six assistant teachers. She served as
a mentor and a resource for these aspiring educators providing both a model of quality
teaching and student engagement, but also the support of a caring individual invested in the
positive growth of all learners in our classroom children and adults alike.

Ashley is a dedicated, passionate teacher with demonstrated skills for teaching excellence. As a
partner teacher, I valued her kind and friendly disposition, her dedicated work ethic, and her
enthusiasm for educational growth both her own and that of our students. I feel that she would
be an asset to any teaching staff, and I would welcome the opportunity to work with her as a
teaching peer in the future.

Sincerely,



Kelly B. Baldwin
Lead Teacher, KSU Child Development Center
kbbaldwi@kent.edu