June 19, 2011

Dear State of New Hampshire Representative,

I write the following recommendation in strong support of Ms. Kara Harriss application for her
State of New Hampshire teachers license. I have known Ms. Harris for the past eleven years
and she was a direct report to me at my home branch office (Fujisawa) of Nova Group between
1999 and 2004. My position was such that I managed multiple branches during this time. I
mention this because Karas motivation, ambition and attention to detail gave me great
confidence that whichever branch she was at would carry on with business as usual whilst I
tended to my duties throughout the other branches under my supervision. Not only was Ms.
Harris an asset to the company but she was relied heavily on by peers for her sound advice and
supportive attitude.
Karas record indicates that she has achieved the work necessary to become a licensed teacher.
In the five years of working at Nova Group, she became the coordinator of our Kids Program,
where she supervised up to 20 teachers at a time which included: planning, schedule and
conducting meetings; facilitating team-taught lessons; and executing controlling responsibilities
(quality assurance on lesson delivery and management). Her method of approaching her duties
was thoughtful and consistently resulted in completion without causing negative effect to the
other staffs schedule or teaching style.
While she was Coordinator, there was a remarkable decrease in the amount of negative feedback
we received from parents of children enrolled with us. Conversely, we receive far more positive
comments on how our programs had improved in both quality and structure. I would attribute
this to the fact that Ms. Harris was an educator whose opinion every serious instructor at her
school, and others, sought out. Her hands-on approach and leadership by example also made her
one of the most respected leaders in the school. As an example, when schedule changes were
necessary, Kara proactively took on the toughest schedule which consisted of more Kids classes
than the other instructors, Kids classes that had maximum enrollment and those Kids classes that
included special needs students. No other Coordinator that I managed was as dedicated.
Kara frequently demonstrated her skills as a creative and capable teacher and was known for
having high-achieving students. I witnessed Kara consistently going the extra mile for
students though it sometime meant doing so with reimbursement from the company. One
example of her dedication is when teaching a class of four elementary school girls (4th-6thgraders)
she took the initiative to custom tailor her lessons so that the students were better challenged and
more interested in learning. This included, if memory serves me correctly, teaching natural
introductions, conversing about their weekends and other topical interest that would match their
ages, and writing journal entries (essays) about what they each liked to do. These tasks were
typically expected of junior high school students but Ms. Harris knew her students well enough
that these changes were welcomed by the students and none of them struggled with the material.
Kara is a hard worker with a good attitude, bright spirit and a great sense of humor. She is
always eager to teach as well as learn. As a licensed teacher for the State of New Hampshire, she

would be a valuable asset to any school that will employ her. I recommend her highly and
without reservation.
Should you require further elaboration, please feel free to contact me directly.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Howard
Personal:
istoiche@gmail.com
+81-90-9817-7566
Work:
jlh@bmes.com
+81-3-4550-2096