December 12, 2016 ‘To Whom It May Concern, I'm a special education teacher at Oconto Falls Elementary and | am writing on behalf of Brandi Nero. Brandi spent approximately 6 weeks working with my students as a practicum student through Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. During this time she worked with students of various ages and challenges. My students are primarily labeled with Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities, but their challenges include academic difficulties, organizational problems, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Brandi quickly learned the issues of each of the students she was assigned to and was able to assist them in their area of need. Her personality is such that she bul @ rapport with the students easily and they responded well to her. She has excellent ‘cormunication skills and she not only kept me informed of how things were going with the students, but also seemed to instinctively know which situations were going to need proactive thinking and planning in order to keep the students on the right path. | find her ability to anticipate these potential problems to be one of her biggest assets because this skill is so difficult to teach someone. | feel that, in general, paraprofessionals either have this skill or they don't, When working with behaviorally challenging students, having this ability is the key to success. During her time here, there were @ couple of situations that led to all of the staff in my room to have substitutes. This would normally have been cause for high stress and anxiety for myself and my colleagues. Since Brandi was going to be here both times, we did not have nearly the amount of concern that we typically would have. In such a short time, we had the utmost confidence in her ability to assist in the room and keep things running smoothly. | believe that Brandis skills will make her an outstanding paraprofessional. She is hard-working, dependable, and works well both with students and staff. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to work with her during her practicum and she will definitely be missed at Oconto Falls Elementary. | am confident that she will be an excellent addition to your staff. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have. Sincerely, Elexis Mystik Special Education Teacher Oconto Falls Elementary School alexis mysik@of-ps.org 920-848-4476