Lawrence Street Center

1380 Lawrence Street

Campus Box 106
Denver, CO 80205

4/19/2017

To whom it concerns:

Please accept this letter as evidence of my enthusiastic recommendation of Meagan Ackerman for the position of Special Education
Teacher.

I have had the pleasure of being Meagans instructor at the University of Colorado Denver for the past two years and have seen her
leadership skills first hand in her role as president of the Auraria Chapter of the Student Council for Exceptional Children. Rarely does
a student come along that stands out among her peers on so many levels the way she has. Her enthusiasm for teaching is contagious
and her focus and desire to educate all students, regardless of ability, is obvious in all she does.

Meagan demonstrated academic excellence in all of her courses since the moment she began her graduate program. In all
assignments, she modeled exemplary engagement of core concepts related to teaching pedagogy and went above and beyond the
requirements and expectations outlined by her professors on a consistent basis. In fact, several of her assignments are currently
being used as exemplars in multiple courses.

There are several factors that contributed to the outstanding quality of Meagans work. First, she is creative in her thinking and is
not afraid to step outside the box to meet the needs of her students. It is clear that she enjoys taking the time go get to know her
students, values the importance of learning who they are, and possesses a natural ability to create opportunities that effectively
guide them in their studies. Whether presenting to her peers or creating a lessons for her students, her level of preparation and
organization is evident and she is always engaging. One way she does this is by successfully integrating the use of technology to
include related media content or create infographics, animated presentations, and videos.

Meagan is also an extremely effective collaborator who not only dedicates herself to excellence in her own work, but consistently
took time from her personal studies to help others achieve excellence in his or her own right. She was always meaningfully engaged
in online discussions and challenged her peers with thoughtful questions and on many occasions she would take the initiative to
answer questions if she had the ability to do so. In group presentations, she was always supportive and encouraging to other
students who may not have always been as confident in their personal speaking abilities.

In addition to being a remarkably dedicated student and leader in the classroom, she expanded her involvement in the school and
embraced a role as the president of our professional organization, the Student Council for Exceptional Students. In her time serving,
she secured funding ($500) for a book study, conference participation (5 students), and directors meeting. She worked within the
university structure to have the organization recognized and demonstrated leadership skills by engaging member involvement and
leading the search to recruit new officers. I can say with complete honesty that she truly raised the bar when planning events, they
far exceeded any I have participated in over the past years. There is no doubt in my mind that she is on the road to becoming a
strong leader in this field and has a remarkable career ahead of her.

I have no doubt that Meagan will not only be an invaluable addition to any special education team and I know she will start
impacting student lives the moment she steps into the classroom. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can further elaborate on
Meagans many strengths.

Nicole Winowiecki, MA.Ed.

Faculty Instructor, Special Education
Nicole.Winowiecki@UCDenver.edu
O: 303-315-4956 C: 586-855-2445