Woodland Alternative Programs
575 Hays Street, Woodland, CA 95695
530-662-0798 * Fax 530-662-8039
[email protected]
To whom it may concern:
It is my pleasure to write this letter for Felicia Samson. I first met Felicia when she came to work at Lee Junior High School where I was the principal. That was about 6-7 years ago. Felicia taught language arts and vocal music. One of the real positives about Felicia is that she went out of her way to take part n school activities that were beyond the purview of the classroom. You never had to ask Felicia to go the extra step for kids; it was part of how she viewed being a teacher. As Felicia became more aware of the culture and climate at lee she started to take on more responsibilities within her instructional team, eventually becoming a Village/Team leader. Her responsibilities included being a quasi-counselor/administrator for an interdisciplinary team of 4-5 teachers and about 120 students.
At the end of the 1998-1999 school year I took a District level administrative position. My responsibilities included the supervision of the K-12 Summer School program in Woodland. Felicia served as the program coordinator for Lee Junior High School for the 2002 & 2003 summer sessions. Her responsibilities have included recruitment of staff, curriculum development, staff supervision, student management, and pretty much being the chief cook and bottle washer for 25 certificated staff, 2-3 classified staff, and upwards 300 students in grades 6-8 who would probably choose to be anywhere but at summer school for about 6 weeks in June and July.
In October of 2003 Felicia became the Interventions Program Coordinator for the Woodland Joint Unified School District. She was (and is) responsible for the after-school programs at 8 traditional calendar elementary schools, 2 multi track year round elementary schools, 2 single track year round elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 2 high schools, the intersession programs at the year round schools (their version of summer school), and the summer sessions for grades 4-12. Felicia is responsible for providing the programs for students deemed:
--At risk of retention
--Recommended for retention
--Retained
--In danger of not being able to pass the California High School Exit Exam
Things that stand out in my mind about what Felicia accomplished this year are with the development and implementation of classes that try to provide remediation in a fun interesting manner. Felicia has worked long and hard to develop collaborative relationships with the various stakeholder groups in the educational community. Felicia attended English Language Advisory Council meetings, School Site Council meetings, PTA meetings, and Secondary School Department meetings. She has worked to develop new classes that help students to ?learn to learn?. A good example is the ?Strategies for Success? class currently being piloted at Woodland High School.
In order to put together a program of the magnitude and complexity of a 4-12 Interventions program in a District of over 10,000 students you have to have a knowledge of curriculum and how to develop academic programs for a very diverse population. Felicia was a leader in the development of the middle school interventions curriculum for the years she was the coordinator of the program at lee Middle School. Felicia participated in the planning and implementation of the Comprehensive School Research Development program at Lee Middle School, has participated in the Renaissance Learning training program for Accelerated Reader, trained in High Point curriculum, and was a participant in the Area 3 History and cultures project. Felicia worked with the lee Middle School Principal on budget issues while a teacher there, developed and managed the budget for both years she was a summer school coordinator, and was responsible for the budget of the District Interventions Program for 2003-2004; a budget which was in access of $1,000,000.
One of the unfortunate realities is that in tight budget times administrative positions get eliminated. The position of Interventions Coordinator is one of them. Felicia did an outstanding job in her year at Woodland Alternative Programs. The elimination of the position had nothing to do with performance; it was strictly a dollars and cents issue. Felicia would be a good addition for any program looking for a hard worker with plenty of good creative ideas and energy.
Sincerely,
Barry Cooper, Director
Alternative Programs/Adult Education
Woodland Joint Unified School District