December 1, 2012 Dear Hiring Committee, Please accept this letter of recommendation for Heather Pratt, who is applying

for teaching positions through your school. Let me begin by saying that Heather is a wonderful human being: bright, energetic, optimistic, resourceful, and kind. It was my great pleasure to work and interact with her during her time at Colby, and I look forward with enthusiasm and interest to see all that she will be able to accomplishwith her sterling abilities, her passion, and her sense of commitmentas she moves forward in her career as an educator. I first met Heather in the spring of 2008, when she enrolled in the second half of my twosemester survey course on the history of American women. From the beginning, Heather was a stand-out student: responsible, thoughtful, and completely engaged. She did excellent work in the course, earning an A on the basis of her superior written work, her avid and intelligent contributions to our class discussions, and her thorough interrogation of the course material. She was, in short, a model student and a delight to teach. That fall, she took the first half of the survey as well and once again earned an A, for all the same reasons. Over the course of the rest of her career here, I heard nothing but praise from the other faculty with whom Heather took classes. I am hardly surprised. I also had the great privilege of getting to know Heather outside of the classroom, as I was the director of our Womens, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program for a number of years, and during that time she was my academic advisee. I can say sincerely that in my nearly twenty years at Colby I have met very few students who could match Heathers deepand infectioussense of commitment to social justice for all people, and her profound dedication to her academic work. That she came to us from a public high school in central Maine rather than a prep school in Massachusetts, Connecticut, or New York, makes her even more impressive. In addition, Heather is, as I have already noted, a marvelous young woman who is inspirational to others. She is also absurdly modest. To put it simply, she is everything one could want in a student, or a teacher, or a leader. I cannot recommend Heather Pratt to you highly enough. She will be a wonderful teacher, and I can guarantee personally that no school that hires her will ever be disappointed. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions. Sincerely,

Elizabeth D. Leonard John J. and Cornelia V. Gibson Professor of History