December 13, 2021

To whom it may concern:

Darden College of
Education and
It is my pleasure to provide a letter of recommendation for Maram Aizaz for a
Professional Studies
school counseling position. I have been Maram’s advisor since she began our
Department of Counseling school counseling program in Fall 2019. I have also been her instructor for one of
& Human Services
Education Building
her content courses, Counseling Children and Adolescents in School Settings, and
4301 Hampton Blvd her practicum and internship courses. Ms. Aizaz is a strong advocate and
Main Office #2101 counselor for youth.
Norfolk, VA 23529
Phone (757) 683-3326
Fax (757) 683-5756 As a student, she is open to feedback and can plan and implement targeted school
Counseling & Human
counseling interventions based on the needs of the youth in her sites. As a school
Services Department Chair: counselor, she has shown she can develop strong relationships with students from
Dr. Edward Neukrug diverse backgrounds. She has also navigated her school counseling internship
eneukrug@odu.edu
during the first fully in-person semester since the beginning of the COVID-19
Counseling Graduate pandemic. Specifically, Maram collaborated with her site supervisor and the
Program Directors:
Dr. Gulsah Kemer for Ph.D.
intervention team at her school site to address the needs of students in a class
gkemer@odu.edu where the teacher abruptly left the school. Maram met with the intervention team
Dr. Emily Goodman-Scott and her site supervisor to determine a plan of action because students were
for M.S. & Ed.S.
egscott@odu.edu
experiencing signs of disengagement and distress from losing their teacher in the
middle of the semester. Maram planned and implemented classroom lessons to
Human Services: help students process their feelings regarding the change and build a strong
Undergraduate on Campus
Program Director: classroom community in the wake of the news of their teacher’s departure. She
Ms. Jennifer Simmons also used a needs assessment to inform content for these lessons.
jmsimmon@odu.edu
Undergraduate DL Program
Director: While this experience happened in an elementary school classroom, I have seen
Dr. Mark Rehfuss how naturally Maram can adapt to the developmental needs of students. Maram’s
mrehfuss@odu.edu
practicum site was a local children’s hospital, where she worked with youth of all
ages addressing their mental health needs when in crisis. Her site supervisor and I
were impressed with her ability to build rapport with youth and handle herself
under pressure. She has shown these traits through her work with youth during my
time supervising her. She would be an asset to any school community. She has
shown creativity in her ways to address challenges, flexibility in dealing with
abrupt challenges in schools, and care for her students in her ability to gain their
trust quickly during her practicum and internship.

I highly recommend Maram as a school counselor. I am happy to discuss any

details related to this letter or my experience with Maram. My email is
nedirman@odu.edu.

Sincerely,

Dr. Natalie Edirmanasinghe, PhD, NCC

Assistant Professor
Counseling and Human Services Department
Old Dominion University