Here’s another letter from mom’s old hard drive. The file is inexplicably named ADT.doc. She was desperate for work after getting laid off from her position at Americorps, which she loved dearly. I have tens of letters like this to different administrators around Florida, and dozens of versions and revisions of her resume.
September 4, 2008
Dr. Leanetta C. McNealy
Duval Elementary School
2106 NE 8th Avenue
Gainesville. Florida 32641Dear Dr. McNealy,
As you know, AmeriCorps was not funded for the current year, and I am currently seeking a teaching position. I was hoping you might be willing to fill out the attached form and return it to me, basing your comments on the interactions you and I had at the very beginning of our partnership and on the improved reading results attained during our time at Duval.
While my eligibility is in Middle School, I am hoping that you might be willing to attest to my strengths and skills as far as you can.
The skilled AmeriCorps Members that I hired, trained, and placed at Duval made a difference in the lives of struggling readers. I’m sure you are aware of the improvements in the reading skills of the majority of the students tutored at Duval over the last three years.
I am very excited that you have hired two of our tutors to teach at Duval, and I know that they are both happy to be there.
Thank you for allowing AmeriCorps to serve Duval.
I hope you will contact me soon to pick up the completed reference form.
Cordially,
Kathie Gagne
Of course I have no idea who Dr. McNealy is, or even whether she actually ever sent this letter. I guess it’s a pretty cliché thing to say about your mother, but gosh, she really, really loved kids. And she especially loved helping kids. I think it had something to do with her enduring dream of the vision of JFK’s Camelot, something like that …