May 1, 2020
To Whom It May Concern:
It is with great pleasure that I recommend Jessica Schmidt for a teaching position in your district. Jessica joined us at
Barrington High School this semester as a student teacher from the University of Illinois- Chicago. She is an intelligent,
thoughtful, and dedicated individual, with a sense of compassion and patience that makes her an excellent candidate for a
position in education.
Jessica began the semester with intentional planning and preparation. She was asked to spend her time facilitating a reading
and writing workshop in a Freshmen College Prep English course. She explored ways to develop students’ writing in regard to
style, structure, and clarity by providing them various models, activities, and assignments that allowed them to be creative and
explore their own interests. She also ran book clubs, providing students with various options and holding discussions weekly to
check in and assess student comprehension and engagement. In every way, she took on this exercise in multi-tasking with such
great organization and attention to detail that the students were able to work at ease.
In addition to her planning and preparation, Jessica continually explores ways to improve her skills in the classroom, and this is
what I respect about her most. She is adaptable and flexible and constantly learning. She observes how her students respond
and perform on the assignments she provides and immediately begins to brainstorm how she can best modify her instruction to
make it more effective for each individual. By making sure she completely understands the best practices in helping a student
learn a skill, to making sure she is dividing her attention equally among each student, Jessica shows that she constantly has the
best interest of her students in mind. I have observed Jessica praising students for their hard work and also redirecting students
to focus on their work when they lose direction. She makes a genuine effort to connect to each student, getting to know their
personal interests and academic needs.
Finally, Jessica has exemplified, more than anything this semester, the value she places on her commitments. While being
new to the profession, Jessica has experienced one of the most unique moments in the history of education, and without doubt,
this will shape her career and who she becomes as an educator. To be honest, I am grateful to have had her as my student
teacher during this process. When our high school made the decision to begin distance learning and the expectations and goals
around our state were changing daily, Jessica and I worked together to create a system that would benefit our students. A
couple of weeks later, her university shared that all student teachers were exempt from completing the remainder of their
experiences. Jessica chose to stick around, digitally. She wanted to finish her units with her students and make sure those who
had fallen behind were able to reach out to her to catch up. She sent emails checking in on students when they appeared to be
disengaged, emails to praise students who were still doing great work, and emails to simply say hello and allow students to
maintain connections during this crisis. Her desire to jump into territory unknown, e-learning during a pandemic, after having
an opportunity to instead take a step back, is commendable.
Jessica has a genuine desire to help others and a commitment to being a leader. All of her efforts and her desire to serve others
make her worthy of a position within your district. I encourage you to strongly consider her candidacy.
Sincerely,
Dina Giannakopoulos
English Department
Barrington High School
Department of English
Email cgiannakopoulos@barrington220.org •
616 W. Main St., Barrington, IL 60010 • www.barrington220.org
