Mastering The Arts Teacher's Involvement With Jacob Kasik

To Whom It May Concern:

I have had the pleasure of working with Jacob Kasik for the last 5 years as his Arts Integration Instructional Coach. My involvement with him and his teaching was a requirement for his participation in a federal grant program entitled, Mastering the Arts. This program provided teachers instructional workshops, resources, and mentoring for integrating standards-based arts instruction across core curricula. Teachers in the program created standards-based lessons for implementation in their classroom to use the Arts to leverage the skills and habits of creativity to improve the academic performance and critical thinking of students, which in turn helped prepare them to exceed the expectations of state education standards. Working with Jacob in this program has given me a unique vantage point from which to watch him grow professionally, both as an educator and artist. Jacob displays the character and professionalism of high-quality individual and teacher and was masterful in the program.

Jacob’s students entered the classroom, and it was evident there were rules and procedures put in place. Students knew what to do, where to be, and were engaged immediately. It was evident that Jacob had a good rapport with his students. He connected with them personally, they liked him, and it was evident by their behavior that they respected him. Students engaged in his lesson, followed his instruction and he guided them to work independently to complete their assigned work. Jacob’s classroom management, professionalism, and instruction was excellent, and students created quality work as a