July 2, 2018

To Whom It May Concern:

Having been a teacher and an education researcher for several years, I know that teachers are
incredibly important as they help set the culture for the entire school, both in terms of collegial
support and staff morale as well as student relationships and student academic support. I am
writing to highly recommend Matthew Patrick for this position with your organization. Matthew is
an incredibly dedicated and passionate English and Social Science instructor with a thoughtful
approach to working with students of all reading and writing skill levels. For the past three years,
I have been his teaching partner at the Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs High Tech High in Point
Loma, a project-based learning public charter school with students from all over San Diego
County. I have had the great fortune to collaborate with him as a project partner the entire time I
have taught at our school. In addition to being a dynamic and skilled Humanities teacher,
Matthew is highly professional, caring, flexible, responsible, and deeply passionate about
developing students as readers, writers, and critical thinkers.

Mr. Patrick and I co-designed and taught a cross-curricular project, Comida con Causa, with our
students ​exploring social justice and food equity, drawing from Latin-American history to create
authentic cuisine and drive social change​. ​Inspired by their historical research, students
highlighted the inequities of the food system and proposed solutions to improve the lives of
farmers. Matthew thoroughly supported students in each phase of their research paper, took
initiative to establish community partnerships, and took it upon himself to learn woodworking in
order for students to build planter boxes for the community. In the most recent iteration of this
project, our students exhibited their work at a communal space in City Heights - a low-income
neighborhood in San Diego - in which they cooked authentic Latin American recipes, discussed
their research, and showcased their planter boxes.

In addition to being an exemplary teacher, Mr. Patrick also seeks out professional development
opportunities, serves as a panelist for teacher residencies with the High Tech High Graduate
School of Education, and regularly facilitates Humanities department workshops. In addition, he
has shared his expertise with other practitioners by presenting at the Global Solutions Forum on
project-based learning and the urban planning project he designed, as well as the California
Association of Teacher of English (CATE) conference on how to develop and publish student
writing. Matthew is a lifelong learner and regularly goes beyond the call of duty - both as a
teaching partner and an educator.

I highly recommend Matthew Patrick as a well-qualified candidate to join your team; he is

caring, collaborative, and committed to unraveling the predictable patterns of success and
failure in the educational experiences of our students. ​If you would like to speak to me in greater
detail about Matthew, please do not hesitate to contact me via email or by phone.

Sincerely,

Sofia Tannenhaus, Ph.D.

Spanish Teacher, High Tech High School
Email: sofia.tannenhaus@gmail.com
Mobile: 619.395.6764