Hello Parents and Guardians,

My name is Sarah Hefington and I will be your students 9 th grade English teacher
this year! I have the privilege of getting to know your students more each day, so I
wanted to introduce myself and let you know what my classroom expectations are.
I have recently graduated from Arizona State University with my Bachelors
degree in Secondary English Education and I have been interning in high schools
and junior highs for the past 2 years. I taught English in China for 2 months in 2014
where I caught the passion for teaching and high school students. I am an Arizona
native and I love the sun! I love being outdoors, traveling, and trying new
restaurants!
I am so excited for my first year of teaching and even more excited that I get to
hang out with your students every day! I do have a few expectations of my students
and parents of my students, as I am sure you have for me.
First, I want to let you know what you can expect from me. Communication! I
encourage parent involvement in the classroom, if your student is struggling or
being disruptive you will receive direct communication from me via phone call or
email, whichever you prefer. I am excited to implement new technologies that will
equip your students for higher education or professional careers. I will respond to
emails/phone calls within 2 business days. You can expect me to be cordial, prompt,
and to love your students.
We will be watching a lot of videos in class on current events, TED Talks, and slam
poetry, I will be sending out a list of all these videos/books. If there are any that you
would like your child to be exempt from, please let me know by August 13th! I want
to respect your family, beliefs, and traditions, these come with communication and
grace. Our class will create writing portfolios, build websites, and read a variety of
young adult novels. All of this is to build and strengthen our abilities to read, write,
present, and listen.
Now what do I expect from you? (Dun. Dun. Dun.) I want to have an open line of
communication and answer any questions/ make any modifications you or you
student may require, but I can only do that if you communicate with me!
Additionally, because we will be using new technologies and current events, we will
set up a classroom culture of respect, open mindedness, and participation. Please
encourage your students to be open minded, respect opinions that differ from their
own, and to come prepared, ready to add to the conversation.
I am on your team! I am in your corner! Please reach out to me if you have any
questions, complaints, extreme fears, etc. Thank you for allowing me to teach your
students, it is truly an honor! I am excited to see what this year holds for all of us!

Sarah Hefington
If you would like to contact me:
Work phone: 222.222.2222 ext
22
Email shefingt@asu.edu

Hello Mr. and Mrs. Smith,

Can you believe we are already 5 weeks into the school year? Our class is finishing
up our writing portfolios and we are now starting to build our websites! The students
love that they get to design their own webpage, especially Jeffery! Jeffery been such
a joy to have in class this year, he is always polite, adds laughter to our classroom,
and he excels in anything in correlation to technology.
Though Jeffery excels in the classroom, I am having a hard time getting him to turn
in any homework and stay awake in class. When I ask him why he did not complete
it, he says that he had club swim practice or he is working in the garage. I have
seen Jeffery swim with our high school team so I know how talented he is, and how
much work and effort he puts into swimming. I also know the amount of work he
puts into his programming classes and now internship! Jeffrey is very talented and I
can see he has a busy schedule!
Though getting an internship and scholarship are very important, I want to make
sure that Jeffrey is going to have the grades to compete in high school swim, as well
as graduate with grades that will allow him to accept any swim scholarships he may
receive. Academics are just as important as athletics and I want to make sure he
excels in both!
What can I do to encourage Jeffery to complete and turn in his homework? Can I be
any assistance to either of you? Lets come up with a collaborative plan to make
sure Jeffrey completes his homework, while still being able to be as active and
involved as he is!
I believe that an agenda where he could write down and check off all of his
assignments would help. This would keep him accountable and make it easy for you
to see all of his homework assignments.
I truly enjoy having Jeffrey in my classroom and I want to see him succeed in every
area. Let me know how I can partner with you or support you in any way. Thank you
for your time, and for allowing Jeffrey to be a part of our classroom.

Sarah Hefington
If you would like to contact me:
Work phone: 222.222.2222 ext
22
Email shefingt@asu.edu

Dear Mrs. Meyers,

Thank you so much for your consideration of choosing me as one of the many
teachers at Anderson Junior High. I started looking in the Chandler District because
many of my colleagues recommended Chandler as a district that supported first
year teachers, technology, and problem based learning. Anderson Junior High was
my first choice because I want to be a part of the technology integration courses
the students are now taking. I am enthusiastic about finding a school that equips
students for the technology they will be expected to know in the future, school
spirit, and making sure that each one of my students is equipped better for life by
the end of the year! I truly have a passion for teaching and seeing students be the
best that they can be!
I am a born and raised native of Arizona, I grew up in Gilbert and then in
Queen Creek. I graduated from Queen Creek High School with honors, national
honors society, as well as All-American in basketball. I love the state of Arizona and I
love the students of Arizona! I will be graduating from Arizona State University in
the spring of 2017 with my Bachelors degree in Secondary English Education. I
have taken Leadership in the Classroom, Methods of Teaching, as well as Culture in
Schooling. I have interned for 1.5 years and I have just recently finished my student
teaching internship at Anderson Junior High. I love the students, I have loved the
other staff members I have met, and I want to be part of a school where the
students are excited to be at, and that is very apparent at this school.
I want to be a part of this school, but not just academically. As I stated before,
I graduated from high school as an All-American, I would love to serve as anything
from an assistant to a head coach on the womens basketball team. I also have
experience with track and volleyball. I also graduated as a member of the national
honors society, and I would love to be a part of this organization as well.
Thank you for allowing to be a part of this process. I look forward to hearing
from you soon, I would appreciate getting to hear your vision over the school and
what part I could be of that in the future.

Thank you for your consideration,

Sarah Hefington

If you would like to contact me:

Work phone: 222.222.2222 ext
22
Email shefingt@asu.edu

Sarah Hefington