Cheryl B.

Sugerman
3507 Edgewood Dr. Ann Arbor, MI 48104 chersug@hotmail.com Phone: 734-223-6586

June 2013 Dear Sir or Madam: Please accept this letter as a recommendation for Mrs. Jacqueline Hooper. I have worked with Mrs. Hooper for seven years at the Academy of Waterford where she is the Sixth Grade Homeroom teacher and Middle School ELA teacher, team leader and active participant on school improvement committees. Jacqueline began her tenure at the school teaching sixth grade. She was hired after the school year began; taking over a class that started the year with a substitute then had a teacher who resigned after one day. It was a difficult situation to walk into but Jacqueline created a classroom in which students felt secure and were able to learn. She also collaborated with the administration and the other sixth grade teacher to set a schedule where the students switched teachers allowing them the opportunity to benefit from teacher expertise, and have the academic and behavioral support of both teachers. The following year Jacqueline taught the only sixth grade (self-contained) class. Working in collaboration with the seventh and eighth grade teachers, Mrs. Hooper helped create the current platooning system still in effect in our Middle School. As the Title I Facilitator, I have collaborated frequently with Mrs. Hooper. She is a grade level team leader and a member of the School Improvement Team. Jacqueline also played an integral role on our pacing guide committee. She understands the importance of the classroom teacher being the first line of Response to Intervention and works with struggling students as well as advocating for students who face academic challenges. Mrs. Hooper encompasses some of the finest qualities of a teacher: she is flexible, patient, and empathetic to her students academic and personal needs. She knows students need to be taught expectations before asking them to meet them and she is innovative in working to meet the needs of individual students regardless of the range of skills in the classroom. Jacqueline works in partnership with the other Middle School teachers but also collaborates with fifth grade teacher to make certain she understand what students need for sixth grade and to develop ways they can work together to make that happen.

In addition to the work she does in the classroom, Jacqueline works tirelessly to make the school better. She volunteers for committees and is asked by the administration to serve on others. She is the Track Coach and in that role gives students the opportunity to be part of a team as well as supporting their individual goals, building their confidence on the track and transferring that confidence into the classroom. Mrs. Hooper is also a student (literally as well as figuratively) and is currently working on her Masters in Reading. I believe Jacqueline would be a wonderful asset to any organization. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions or need further information. Sincerely,