CARMEL CLAY SCHOOLS

CARMEL HIGH SCHOOL

520 EAST MAIN STREET CARMEL, INDIANA 46032-2299 TELEPHONE (317) 846-7721 FAX (317) 571-4066

February 25, 2014 Dear Dr. Harmas, I have had the privilege of knowing Stephanie Barnes both personally and professionally for the past 3 years. My experience co-planning and co-teaching with her was one of the highlights of my professional career. She challenged and inspired me to become a better educator. I am confident that she will make an excellent English Department Chair at Creeskide Middle School. She has exemplary qualities that will benefit your students, staff, and administrative team. Stephanie has many qualities that epitomize effective leadership. A few of these qualities include an ongoing willingness to learn, efficiency, and the ability to have difficult conversations with students and colleagues. Stephanie was put into a difficult situation, a situation most people would avoid. During the 2011-2012 school year she agreed to co-teach a class with someone she did not know (me), using a methodology she had never fully implemented (project-based learning), with class sizes that would make most teachers cringe. Not only was she willing to do this, but she did it with a high level of passion and eagerness. We met throughout the summer of 2011 for long hours of planning, critiquing, and discussing at length things like who would be a good authentic audience for a particular unit? How would we ensure that students were making connections between classical literature from the 19th century and American History from the 18th century? Her thought process and ideas would all center on one question, how will we ensure that students are going to become better readers, writers, and thinkers during this process? She was adamant that students learn from fictional texts as well as the non-fiction texts. I quickly became aware during these planning meetings that she not only had a vast knowledge of teaching students how to read and write, but she was extremely organized and efficient. I recall one particular lesson where we were conducting a Writers Workshop on a formal writing assignment. Stephanie taught me how to effectively give each student individual feedback on their writing assignment within one block class period. She met with over 25 students in an individual conference setting and gave them thoughtful and intentional feedback on their writing. The end products were some of the best writing samples I haves seen in my 6 years of teaching middle school students. I had read books and attended workshops about the Writers Workshop process, but had never witnessed the most important step in the process- student conferencing being conducted so effectively. Another strength Stephanie has is the ability to have difficult conversations with students and colleagues. Stephanie has a strong sense of justice and whether it be a student who is not working to their potential, or a colleague who is not doing what is best for kids, she will stand up for what is right. I came into our co-teaching experience with a vast knowledge about inquiry, curriculum, and instruction. I had a vision for how I thought the class should run, but from the beginning if Stephanie felt that things were not going well, or something needed to be changed she would not hesitate to correct me, or critique my teaching. She coached me and made me a better. I have worked as a teacher, instructional coach, and administrator in 3 different school districts. I have led professional development workshops around the United States, and there is no one I would rather have leading, teaching kids, and evaluating teachers than Stephanie Barnes. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like additional information.

Sincerely,

Brad Sever Assistant Principal Carmel High School

NCLB National Blue Ribbon School National recognition of a tradition of excellence