JAY PRITZKER ACADEMY

November 2011

To whom it may concern: It is with pleasure that I write this recommendation for Kelsey Hedrick. I worked with Kelsey for over a year as head of the school in which she currently teaches. During that time, I was impressed with her motivation, initiative and professionalism. We hired Kelsey to transform our library from something that was very ad hoc to something much more organized and focused. This involved rethinking all the library processes, sourcing and implementing a software solution and ensuring that the library benefited students by supporting the curriculum. Kelsey achieved these objectives with minimal oversight. This, in fact, is Kelseys great strength: she can be assigned a complex open-ended task with only general instructions and she will figure out how to make a success of it. She will gather the needed information, figure out what resources are needed, plan the implementation and provide needed information to colleagues. Throughout this process, she will report back only for clarification or through standard channels for resources etc. This sometimes makes Kelseys role overlooked: she just gets things done without a lot of fuss and drama. Getting anything done in Cambodia requires motivation and initiative. Kelsey has demonstrated in practice that she has these qualities. Jay Pritzker Academy (www.jpa.org.kh) is an international standard, college preparatory school providing a free education to children from low-income families in Cambodia. When Kelsey arrived, the school was in its fourth year of operations at its campus near Siem Reap in the Cambodian countryside. Conditions at the school were rudimentary but developing. In particular, our library had grown to over ten thousand volumes in a somewhat haphazard manner. Kelsey took control of the library, reorganized it, implemented a proper library management system and made information literacy an integral part of our schools service to students. Kelseys initiative was based loosely on instructions from management and on acknowledged best practice in the form of The Big Six information literacy model. However, her success owed as much to Kelseys own creativity, motivation and insight as to any other factor. She transformed the role of the library at our school largely through her own initiative. Kelseys combination of intelligence, motivation and personal initiative will be a great asset to any school. I would certainly rehire Kelsey and so have no reservations recommending her. I hope you will look favorably on her application.

Mark Fox, Director Jay Pritzker Academy Siem Reap, Cambodia www.jpa.org.kh
MARK Fox 14-DEC-2011