5530 E. Northern Lights Blvd. • Anchorage, AK 99504 • 907-742-4452 • www.asdk12.org/ell/
April
10,
2018
To
Whom
It
May
Concern:
I
am
writing
to
recommend
Jon
Dykstra
for
an
administration
position
in
the
Anchorage
School
District
(ASD).
I
have
had
the
pleasure
of
getting
to
k now
Jon
over
the
past
year
as
I
have
worked
with
him
in
our
university
and
community
partnership
programs.
Jon
has
a
can-‐‑do
spirit,
solves
problems
and
makes
connections
with
students
and
staff.
In
his
career
in
ASD,
Jon
has
accumulated
a
wealth
of
experience
and
expertise
across
grades,
divisions,
subjects
and
settings
that
spans
back
to
his
first
substitute
job
here
i n
1998.
He
has
experience
in
culturally
responsive
secondary
math
and
language
arts
pedagogy
from
his
time
with
the
Cook
Inlet
Tribal
Council
(CITC)
P artners
for
Success
Program.
Through
this
program
he
taught
culturally
responsive
math
and
language
arts
at
Clark
and
Mears
Middle
Schools
as
well
as
at
Dimond
High.
When
this
program
was
discontinued,
Jon
drew
from
among
his
qualifications
in
elementary
education,
middle
school
math,
language
arts
and
secondary
science
to
land
an
elementary
teacher
position
at
Lake
Otis
Elementary,
where
he
eventually
taught
third,
fourth,
fifth
and
third/fourth
grade
combination
classes.
While
at
Lake
Otis,
he
also
administered
Lexia
reading
interventions,
was
the
site-‐‑b ased
literacy
specialist,
and
a
member
of
the
school’s
RTI
and
behavior
teams.
For
the
last
seven
years,
Jon
has
been
teaching
seventh
and
eighth
grade
integrated
science
at
Hanshew
Middle
School.
He
also
completed
his
administration
i nternship
there
and
continues
to
substitute
as
acting
principal
when
his
supervisors
are
out
of
the
building.
In
addition
to
his
building-‐‑level
administrative
experience,
he
has
demonstrated
leadership
through
a
variety
of
professional
learning
and
committee
r oles,
including
SEL,
Danielson,
Safety,
curricular
standards,
assessments
and
curricular
content.
Jon
is
also
active
in
student
activities
and
events
such
as
the
National
Junior
Honor
Society,
talent
shows,
CTE
courses,
ANSEP
and
the
ELL
Summer
Bridge
&
Muse
Programs.
Jon
is
a
BP
Teacher
of
Excellence
nominee
with
the
leadership
training
and
experiences
to
be
an
excellent
and
effective
administrator
in
the
Anchorage
School
District.
Sincerely,
Phil
Farson,
Director
Learners
Program
English
Language