Letters of Reccomendation

Letter of Recommendation by Jed Palmer

To Whom it May Concern-

I am pleased to nominate Grace Stebbins as the 2017 CSMA Middle School Journalist of the Year. Grace has been a dedicated journalist, a strong editor, and a solid role model in the Sierra yearbook program and is an example of what a student journalist should be.

Grace has been a member of the Sierra yearbook staff for two years. She served on staff as a 7th grade student. During that time she demonstrated and improved her abilities as a writer and storyteller. She is able to have conversations with anyone and gather insight that leads to great storytelling. This was clearly apparent in her writing about student volunteerism for our 2016 book. Grace earned a 2nd Place Best of Colorado award from the Colorado Student Media Association for her work in alternative coverage.

I knew early on that Grace was a leader. She is confident in her decisions and also able to recognize different perspectives. She is a lead-by-example type of editor, spending much of her time in class working on the “behind the scenes” work that needs attention . She also recognizes times that a vocal approach will be more effective, and easily transitions to that role of directing other staffers with encouragement and specific action items. In addition to being a leader, Grace has been a major contributor to the design and writing of the 2017 yearbook. Her design work is beyond what most middle school yearbook students could do, and I think she could easily compete against high school students in yearbook design and structure. Her writing truly is the “voice” of our book this year. She has spent countless hours writing and rewriting to develop our structure and our story.

Grace is also a great role model. She is one of the most responsible middle school students I have ever worked with. She is able to balance her responsibilities and commitments to the journalism program along with her active involvement in our school drama program and her numerous extracurricular pursuits. She is also ethical in her choices and her journalistic work. She is concerned about telling the stories that should be in our book, and also on how we should tell the story the right way.

I know that Grace is making plans for continuing her work in yearbook or other areas of journalism starting next year at Douglas County High School. I expect that Grace’s work will have a dramatic impact on the journalism program at DCHS. She clearly has made an impact on ours. I wish that every middle school journalism could have a student with the dedication, leadership, and responsibility of Grace. I have no hesitation in saying that I believe she is the top middle school journalist in Colorado.

Signed,

Jed Palmer

Journalism Adviser, Sierra Middle School

Letter of Recommendation by Julia Agnew

Letter of Recommendation by Jennifer Rike