March 3, 2014

Fulton County Schools Superintendant Teacher of the Year Panel

Dear Sirs, I am a parent of a student, Braden Yatteau, in Ms. Christine Terrells class at Summit Hill Elementary. I am at the school several times weekly for volunteering purposes and often have the opportunity to pop in her class, as well as many other in the school. I must say that her class appears like a calm, organized Middle school class. The kids are working together, independently, the noise level is low (a very difficult achievement for 4th graders! ha ha!), he is usually helping kids are her desk, and there is an overall feeling of learning. I can honestly say that NO other classes on the fourth grade hall run this smoothly. She has set up the most ideal learning environment for her advanced and accelerated children. Their class work is hard, and there is a lot of it, so to see her class run so smoothly and calmly, says a lot. Im not sure if Im communicating what I want to say, which is that her teaching methods are very admirable, and it has worked very well for my son. Last year Braden was stressed out, unorganized and overwhelmed. He seemed to forget a lot of things and was not happy at all. The classroom environment was much louder, chaotic, and seemed unorganized. This year, through Ms. Terrells teaching methods, Braden has become very organized. He is confident he is on top of things. He retains and unbelievable amount of information through lecture. He comes home and tells me of various things they did or talked about. He is actually LEARNING and retaining, and then passing it on. Awesome. The day the school announced she won, I had not volunteered and was unaware. The kids came running in from the bus. After passing out hugs and snacks, I was trying to find out about the day from my 1st grader. Braden, went on to do his unpacking. Within a minute or two, he came running up to me, interrupted my conversation with a beaming smile, and said GUESS WHAT?! MS TERRELL WON TEACHER OF THE YEAR!!! and he looked like a proud father! He was so proud of her and genuinely excited for her, and glad she won. That right there is how I know the school made the

right decision. I have my opinion of her already- shes efficient, she responds to emails in a very timely manner, she is nice to me and respectful of Braden, she is encouraging, she is friendly and she is a great teacher; however, for Braden to be that thrilled that his teacher won says so much. He would know! She deserves it for sure. Please consider her for T.O. T. Y for Fulton County. Her teaching abilities can benefit many others and she might be able to influence other teachers in ways she cannot without such recognition. I am very glad our school gave her this award and feel my son has grown leaps and bounds in his ability to be a good student. That is all you want, really. For your child to learn and be confident in his abilities. Ms. Terrell has done this for Braden. Please let her do the same for others by extending her award to the county level. Sincerely,

Rachel K Yatteau