Department of Teacher Education

and Professional Development

EHS 421
(989) 774-3976
Fax: (989) 774-3152

December 14, 2015

To Whom It May Concern:
This is a letter of recommendation in support of Alexandra Briggs as an effective middle
level educator.
I was a professor of middle level education in the department of Teacher Education and
Professional Development at Central Michigan University. I first got to know Alexandra in the
spring of 2012 when she signed a Middle Level Education Minor with me. I then got to know
her much better in five middle level classes I taught, of which she was a member: Needs and
Characteristics of Young Adolescents; Middle Level School Concept, Structures and Programs;
Student Diversity in the Middle Level Classroom; Meeting the Diverse Needs of Learners in the
Middle Level Classroom; and Curriculum in the Middle Level School. I was also Alexandras
mentor in the middle level portion of her elementary teacher education program that included a
major in social studies with a history concentration and minors in mathematics and middle level
education. In addition, Alexandra was an active member of our middle level student
professional organization on campus, CMLACMU (Collegiate Middle Level Association at
Central Michigan University) for three years, of which I served as advisor.
Alexandra was a very actively participating and positive member of our classes. Her
contributions in class showed great inquisitiveness, open-mindedness to new ideas, and a desire
to learn all she could about improving her capacity as a middle level educator. As well, her
written work showed a good deal of insight into herself and the profession as she reflected on
her future role in middle level education.
Alexandra was a very active member of CMLACMU, serving as our public relations
director for two academic years (2013-2015) and volunteer coordinator for one year (2014-2015),
attending all of our professional presentations and business meetings, participating in a number
of our projects, and actively engaging in our discussions about educational issues in order to
better accomplish her goal of becoming the best possible teacher she could be. She also
attended three national and three state middle level conferences, the Association of Middle
Level Education (AMLE) annual conferences in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2013), Nashville,
Tennessee (2014) and Columbus, Ohio (2015); and the Michigan Association of Middle School
Educators (MAMSE) annual conferences in Dearborn, Michigan (2013), Walled Lake, Michigan
(2014) and Lake Orion, Michigan (2015) in order to even more increase her knowledge of middle
level education. As well, she served as a session facilitator at the three national conferences, and
she co-presented a session at the 2014 MAMSE conference on Brain Breaks in the Middle Level
Classroom.
I also know that Alexandra has been active on campus and in the larger community,
learning and serving in several capacities. For example, on campus, she participated in a child

abuse and neglect training as well as a Kagan Cooperative Learning workshop. She also served
as a guide (2013) and then as a core guide (2014) for our summer Leadership Safari program
which brings 2000 freshmen to campus in the summer, and in summer 2015 served as a
counselor and mentor for 7th and 8th grade student in our Camp Central STEAM program. In
the larger community, she has chaperoned several after-school activities in local middle level
schools and provided homework help and tutoring at two local schools for a year. She has
excellent organizational skills, is always willing to do her share of the work, works well with
others, and her enthusiasm for young people and for education, and more specifically, middle
level education, is excellent.
Thus, although I have only known Alexandra for a relatively short time, I feel that she is
a person who is deeply committed to teaching and working with young adolescents at the
middle school level. I also believe she has a sound foundation regarding middle level education
and the needs and characteristics of young adolescents. With this commitment and knowledge,
I believe she will become an excellent middle level educator as well as contribute significantly to
the teaching profession in general. Therefore, I feel very comfortable supporting her in her
quest for any teaching position for which she feels qualified.
If you have need of further information, please feel free to contact me at 989-560-3952 or
at baile1nj@cmich.edu.
Sincerely,

Norma J. Bailey, Ed.D.

Professor Emeritus of Middle Level Education