Dear Parents/Guardians,

We are so excited to be helping in your child’s classroom this semester and working with them! Our
names are Annie Stiver and Nikki Menczywor and we are both Early Childhood and Early Intervention Specialist
majors at the University of Dayton. We will be in your child’s classroom every Thursday morning until the middle
of April. During our time in your child’s classroom, we will be observing and completing various assignments on
the classroom culture and routines, gaining knowledge about assessments that are conducted, as well as preparing
and teaching small lesson plans based on the ACCESS curriculum. Our time spent in the classroom is the lab
portion of a course that we are currently taking this semester at the University of Dayton. Assignments and
lessons conducted are shared with our professor in order to help us grow as professionals and future teachers.
We thought that it would be helpful to provide a brief introduction about ourselves so that you know a little bit
more about who we are:

My name is Nikki Menczywor and I am a junior at the University of Dayton. I am from Mount Prospect,
IL, a suburb of Chicago and I’m currently studying Early Childhood Education along with Dyslexia and Intervention
Specialist endorsements. I am a part of the Urban Teacher Academy and dream of working in an urban setting.
On campus, I am involved in the University of Dayton Association for Young Children (UDAYC), a club that offers
a variety of volunteer opportunities that support children, as well as Christmas on Campus and the sorority Zeta
Tau Alpha. I have grown up surrounded by young children as my mom runs her own home daycare. My passion to
work with kids started at a young age because of this exposure that I have received through her job. My mom
has been my inspiration to work with kids and my fourth grade teacher has helped me realize that teaching is
my calling. In high school, I was constantly around kids through a combination of babysitting, working at an after-
school program and working as a camp counselor during the summer. Having these jobs has confirmed my dream
of pursuing a degree in education. I hope this experience will be beneficial for both your child as well as myself.

My name is Annie Stiver and I am currently a junior at the University of Dayton. I am studying to receive
a dual licensure in Early Childhood Education and Early Intervention. In addition, I am receiving my 4 and 5
th th

grade generalist endorsement, as well as the STEM certificate. I am also a part of the Urban Teacher Academy
where I am taking classes that will provide me with skills to one day work in an urban setting, which is what I
hope to do upon graduation at UD. I am from Homerville, Ohio, located in Medina County, where I grew up on a
small family farm. I am a part of a family of four with one older brother. My passion in childhood education stems
from my mom as she is a first grade teacher. She has truly inspired me to enter the field of education. I have
previously been a camp counselor for 4-H camp every summer and am now a volunteer at that camp, as well as a
babysitter for several families and a nanny for two different families with young children. At UD, I am a part
of Christmas on Campus, Habitat for Humanity, and I am currently serving as the President of my sorority, Sigma
Kappa. I am also a part of UDAYC where I am given several opportunities to tutor and work with students. I am
so excited to get to know your child this semester and I hope they learn as much from me as I will from them.

We are excited for the opportunity to work with your child and Ms. Moulton this semester! We truly believe
that we will learn so much!

Thank you,

Nikki Menczywor and Annie Stiver