JEFFERSON

HIGH SCHOOL
Lafayette School Corporation
1801 South 18th Street l Lafayette, IN 47905

To Whom It May Concern:

I have been an art instructor at Lafayette Jefferson High School since 2005, and it is my
pleasure to write this letter of recommendation for my student teacher, Kate Bertels. Kate
has thoroughly impressed everyone who has had the chance to observe her teaching in my
classroom. She is a resourceful, talented, energetic, introspective, natural educator, and I am
pleased with the high quality of education my students have received in her care.

Kate took on a wide variety of my classes, including Painting 1 and 2, Fiber Arts 1 and 2,
Digital Design, and Intro to 2D Art, as well as my colleague’s Drawing 1 and Art History courses.
She is one of the only Purdue student teachers I have come across in the past 15 years who was
willing, able, and excited to tackle such a daunting schedule. She was able to jump right in and
take over as a lead teacher without hesitation. Kate thoughtfully planned all of her units and
lessons, developed rubrics and teaching samples, and generated her own formative
assessments and written assignments with little to no help. She approached teaching like a
professional from the start, and displayed a strong grasp on how to successfully balance
classroom management, standards-based curriculum, building positive student/teacher
relationships, and the behind the scenes business responsibilities of teaching. It is evident how
much she cares about her role as an educator and the wellbeing of her students. She set high
standards and encouraged her students to push their skills beyond their perceived limits. She was
also aware of and sensitive to the diverse and often nuanced needs of the students in our
school, and she equitably served individuals across a broad spectrum of learning styles, cultural
backgrounds, and socio-economic circumstances. Kate has also built positive and productive
professional relationships with the other teachers in my department, sharing and collaborating in
order to improve our curriculum and teaching practices. Above all, I am most impressed with
Kate’s natural inclination towards critical self-reflection. She continues to assess her own
performance daily, considers how her lessons were received by students, and actively seeks out
constructive feedback. More often than not, she came to her own conclusions about strengths
and weaknesses before I even needed to comment. She thrives on this type of reflection and
feedback, and immediately takes action to revise her pedagogical strategies or to revisit
curriculum as needed. I appreciate the rarity of such astute and humble self-awareness, as I do
not often see enough of this quality in practicing educators.

To put it simply, the world needs more teachers like Kate. She is a valuable asset, and I
am so glad to have had the opportunity to work with her. I am confident that you will not be
disappointed if you invite her to become a part of your learning community. Feel free to contact
me if I can provide any additional information on this applicant.

Sincerely,

Mara Battiste
mbattiste@lsc.k12.in.us

Phone: (765) 772-4700 l www.lafayettejeff.org l Fax: (765) 772-4713