THE ALTITUDE ACADEMY @ CRENSHAW

2525 Nineteenth Street N.E., Canton, Ohio 44705 330-454-7717 (phone) 330-588-2120 (fax)

Sandy Womack Jr., Principal Mike Conkle, Assistant Principal

November 13, 2013 Dear Dr. Steiner, I normally don't email you after one of your students shadows me (even when they are ood.! "owever, a few #oints bear a res#onse in this $ase. %hen I returned to &ltitude this mornin followin a 'are (eam meetin , my &ssistant )rin$i#al (*i+e 'on+le! as+ed, ,*an, who was that student you had wor+in with you yesterday- .y the end of the day, she was wal+in around with $onfiden$e and a smile on her fa$e li+e she wor+ed here, +new what she was doin , and was ha##y/ 0IND 12( %"3N S"3 IS 45&D2&(IN4 S1 %3 '&N 0IND "35 & 61.///, 'om#liments $an't et mu$h more #ositive than ("IS....es#e$ially when they $ome from an indire$t observer. I $ertainly $an attest to the fa$t that &lana was "2N457 for new information...and ea er to soa+ in all she $ould. She 8um#ed ri ht in and wor+ed with a student when I had to ste# into the hallway, and when I returned, she was at ease with the student, movin forward li+e a real #ro. I was $om#letely im#ressed to see that she had written many insi htful 9uestions and observations alon side of the do$umentation she $olle$ted with this youn lady. It tau ht me a thin or two (smile.! In addition, &lana too+ the initiative to S(&7 &0(35 and al#habeti:e all of my student needs assessments when reali:in that it too+ me e;tra time to find one (sin$e I had not yet had time to do so.! 7es, there is more....she went ri ht home and loo+ed u# some 4oo le do$s information that she felt would be more user friendly than the surveymon+ey version I was about to use. I must admit, althou h my 8ob is beyond busy, and reali:in that it does in fa$t ta+e additional time and effort to host a student observer, she a$tually "3<)3D *3. *s. So#+o=s insi htful, #ositive feedba$+ followin my student sessions truly im#a$ted me. I believe she ,brou ht out the best in me, as a seasoned $ounselor due to her ins#irational feedba$+. &s &lana verbali:ed the ways I s#e$ifi$ally hel#ed a student, and $ommented on what a "243 differen$e it made, it reminded me of %"7 I love wor+in with middle s$hool students...for I often ta+e these small te$hni9ues for ranted. She was enuine and enthusiasti$, so I +new I must be doin somethin ri ht (even e;#erien$ed $ounselors $an benefit from su$h #er$e#tive feedba$+/! In $on$lusion, I want you to +now that &lana So#+o ,did *alone #roud, yesterday. )eo#le as+ed me, ,%here is she from--, (his ave me an o##ortunity to .5&4 about what $om#etent students $ome out of the *alone 2niversity 'ounselor and 4uidan$e 3du$ation )ro ram. I always mention that all 3 *alone interns I su#ervised were hired as s$hool $ounselors, whi$h is a testament to the wonderful trainin they re$eive/ I ive 712 $redit for ta+in su$h a reat amount of time and ener y to $olle$t feedba$+ and o the ,e;tra mile, to ma+e it the very best #ro ram it $an be. (his is eviden$ed by your tireless dedi$ation to the *alone 'ounselor and 4uidan$e 3du$ation &dvisory .oard, '&'53) resear$h, and your $ontinual efforts to monitor what wor+s and what needs im#rovement. I( IS %15>IN4/ In this busy world, I believe there is value in slowin down to re$o ni:e and a##re$iate %"&( IS 411D. *alone 2niversity is an ama:in institution. Dr. Steiner, you have a stellar re#utation. I feel #rivile ed to have met &lana So#+o, su$h an enthusiasti$, ea er, $om#etent youn #rofessional. (his *alone raduate is rowin into a ma nifi$ent $ounselor who will #ositively im#a$t the lives of hundreds and thousands of $hildren. 0ondly, (heresa .arbato