!

!
!
!
June 30, 2016
!
To Whom It May Concern:
!
I am writing on behalf of Mr. Wayne Russell. Wayne is an outstanding educator, and
I recommend him for a teaching position within your school. In addition, Wayne is
very interested in possible future leadership opportunities as an instructional coach
or school administrator. He has many talents that could be used to benefit your
organization.
!
I worked with Wayne as his direct supervisor starting in August of 2013 at Concordia
International School Shanghai. Concordia is a WASC-accredited international school
in Shanghai serving over 1,200 students from around thirty countries.
!
Wayne is a successful classroom teacher, and I predict that he will be successful at
your school as well. Every time that I observed Wayne, I came away impressed with
his ability to establish excellent rapport with his students. I attribute this to his
commitment to give his very best to each boy and girl. One thing that I truly
appreciated about his approach was how he motivated his students to be passionate
about writing. His students viewed themselves as writers, and they were highly
motivated to give their best. This is an area that he worked at developing during his
time at Concordia, and I would describe his efforts as highly successful.
!
Wayne provides an outstanding education for all of his students. His ability to build a
strong, healthy classroom community is clearly a strength. He loves each of his
students and is a strong advocate for each boy and girl. He has good classroom
management skills and consistently builds a positive and respectful classroom
environment every single academic year. I could count on him to provide the
students a physically and emotionally safe environment. In addition, he seeks to be a
flexible and responsive educator for his students.
!
This past academic year, I had the opportunity to work with Wayne on a new
entrepreneurship unit that he developed. I was very impressed with how he guided
the students to work in small teams, develop a prototype of their invention, and
prepare and deliver a presentation to a group of investors for funding. I have often
encouraged teachers to seek to develop more authentic learning experiences. In my
opinion, Wayne was quite successful in creating a more authentic learning
experience for his students. I was impressed with how he was able to accomplish this
as there was so much to do at the end of the school year with assessments and report
card writing. Wayne’s willingness to take a positive risk like this was valued and
appreciated.
!
In addition, Wayne values the relationships with the students’ parents. He sees these
relationships with parents as key partnerships. Wayne is responsive to parents any
time they have questions. Not only did I know as Wayne as his direct supervisor, I
also knew him as a school parent. My youngest child had a wonderful year in his
classroom a few years ago. As a parent, I was very satisfied with Wayne as my child’s
teacher.
!
Wayne works well with others. He understands that being a positive member of a
community is truly important. He looks for ways to be supportive of others. He
frequently shares professional learning with others through professional
conversations and also by using a variety of social media to be connected to the
broader community. As an administrator, I found Wayne to be very collaborative and
a good colleague.
!
Schools that are searching for a professional classroom teacher should strongly
consider hiring Wayne. He is highly skilled and continually reflects on his practice
always seeking to improve. He is a life-long learner. His motivation to learn is always
about how to improve his teaching for the benefit of his students. Not only does he
learn, he incorporates his learning into his every day practice. Wayne is always
thinking about how to help his students.
!
Once again, I recommend Wayne to you as an elementary educator and as a possible
future instructional coach or leader of your organization. He is a skilled educator,
reflective, professional, a learner, a person of integrity, and a difference maker. You
will be well pleased if you employ him, and your organization will be positively
impacted.
!
Sincerely,
!
Eric J. Semler
Elementary School Principal