Jeremey Whan

Principal
Bemis Elementary
3571 Northfield Parkway
Troy, Michigan 48084

jwhan@troy.k12.mi.us
248.823.4100
Fax: 248.823.4113

To Whom It May Concern:

I am very pleased to write this letter of recommendation for Shari Pawlus. As the Principal of Bemis
Elementary School, I have closely worked with Shari during the 2015/16 school year. Likewise, I hired her in
the West Bloomfield School District 12 years ago and worked with her for five years as her Principal. I have
been a Principal for sixteen years, mentored multiple teachers to become highly effective Principals, and in
my opinion, Shari is not only ready to take on the responsibilities of leading a school, she is one of the most
prepared out of any of my past mentees.
Perhaps Mrs. Pawlus greatest contribution to Bemis is her willingness and ability to help build capacity of
understanding around the philosophical concepts of how a PLC functions and the importance of a MultiTiered System of Supports. She invested time in conferring with building administration, seeking out advice
from other leaders around the district and built relationships of trust with and amongst the staff. She
helped to build capacity of understanding amongst the staff, led district-wide discussions, coached teachers
and helped us to improve the philosophies in our school improvement process at Bemis. She was very
organized throughout the change process, developed PD and helped to communicate the vision of the
building.
I have had the opportunity to observe Shari grow from being a natural leader to a transformational teacher
leader. Over the years, she has developed her intuitive ideas into helping us expand our vision to create
dynamic and cognitively vibrant classrooms through the implementation of Visible Thinking practices.
Through her exceptional instructional leadership, deep respect for educational excellence, and a focus on
building relationships, she has helped to nurture our staff to continue on the journey of improving how we
deliver instruction. She also distinguished herself as a wonderful teacher coach at the district level for two
years. She learned how to work with reluctant teachers, to encourage, to motivate and to bring all
members along in the journey of improving their Tier I instruction.
Shari is a change agent who believes in the importance of leading in a culture of change. She is a person of
outstanding personal character who can take a stand and make decisions in difficult circumstances. She is
compassionate, honest, hard working and respectful of others. She has high expectations for herself and
she has the same for her students, colleagues and administrators.
One of Sharis greatest strengths is she believes in creating and leading 21st century schools that puts
instructional leadership first. Her commitment to all of our stakeholders has helped to improve our
Professional Learning Communities. She has led multiple PD sessions in technology integration, Visible
Thinking instructional practices and leading at the district level in multiple capacities. She has learned to be

flexible and understands the importance of making sure all voices have been heard. She serves as one of
our Continuous School Improvement team leaders and on our Vision 20/20 leadership team. She has also
been instrumental in helping us improve our action research project of using data to drive instruction by
leading us through a change process to consider new technologies that could prove to be more effective
than our original plan. Her training with John Hattie helps to provide her a foundation of understanding
that truly measures our growth through the effect size of the teachers instruction.
Another important quality about Shari is that she is a lifelong learner. She takes advantage of every
opportunity to increase her repertoire of instructional and personal knowledge through professional
reading, using technology social media sites like Twitter to increase her understanding of best practice and
seeking the counsel of experienced administrators.
It is a privilege to work with her on a daily basis. She has reflected on her journey and has concluded that
she is ready for the next step of developing her leadership abilities by taking on the helm of being an
Elementary Principal. She will be an excellent addition to any districts team if provided the opportunity.
She will be a change agent that will improve the learning of her student body in balance with the learning
of her staff. I highly recommend Shari Pawlus to take on the responsibility of being an Elementary
Principal.
Sincerely,

Jeremey M. Whan
Jeremey Whan
Principal
Bemis Elementary School