Maryann E.

Huey
Assistant Professor
Mathematics Education
110 Howard Hall
2507 University Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50311

Phone: (515) 271-2830

maryann.huey@drake.edu

May 2, 2017

To Whom It May Concern,

I am pleased to write this letter of recommendation for Ms. Sarah Jarnigan. I served as
her academic advisor from 2013 through 2016, and I was her instructor at Drake
University for Teaching Secondary Mathematics during the spring of 2016. Ms. Jarnigan
also worked as a student researcher with me on a Mathematics and Science Partnership
Grant awarded by the Iowa Department of Education, titled Statistics and Probability,
Content and Pedagogy, for Teaching Secondary Students. In addition, I served as Ms.
Jarnigans capstone advisor and observed her during student teaching.

Ms. Jarnigan has performed exceptionally well in all her coursework during the later
years of her time at Drake University and was awarded the Mathematics and Computer
Science Departments annual Outstanding Student Achievement Award for
mathematics education during the 2015-2016 academic year. She was awarded this
honor due to her academic achievements, as well as, her role in service-based activities
such as being a mathematics tutor both at Drake University and in local high schools.
Ms. Jarnigan also led the design of hands-on, technology-based, mathematics activities
for students in elementary, middle, and secondary schools for our Science, Technology,
Education, and Mathematics fare. In addition, Ms. Jarnigan served as a teaching assistant
to a faculty member for both Calculus 1 and Calculus 2 in order to learn more about
teaching these topics. This was not a paid position, but rather voluntary in nature.
Lastly, Ms. Jarnigan made tremendous contributions to the grant activities through
revising statistics and probability lesson plans and activities, organizing documentation
for teachers in relation to learning progressions in these domains, and general oversight
of the data management required for a large grant project. The receipt of this award
coupled with Sarahs impressive list of extracurricular activities are testaments to her
commitment to becoming an excellent mathematics teacher. Many of these opportunities
are open to all students, but few utilize them to the same extent as Sarah.

During her capstone project, Ms. Jarnigan developed three lesson plans that showcased
her deep knowledge of mathematics, ability to incorporate technology tools, and make
connections to real-world applications. Ms. Jarnigan has designed mathematics
activities in GeoGebra and is comfortable using a variety of technology tools. The dual-
degree awarded to Ms. Jarnigan consists of a bachelors of science in Mathematics, as
well as, a bachelors of science in secondary education. At Drake University, we offer
the dual-degree program for those students who wish to pursue higher-level mathematics,
which places Sarah in a category of mathematical knowledge that exceeds the typical
beginning mathematics teacher.
 Maryann E. Huey
Assistant Professor
Mathematics Education
110 Howard Hall
2507 University Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50311

Phone: (515) 271-2830

maryann.huey@drake.edu

I observed Ms. Jarnigan teach upon several occasions. During one lesson at, Sarah
created an innovated lesson plan to help students learn trigonometric identities in a
Precalculus class. The task encouraged students to verify identities graphically using
DesMos, an online tool, and then students were challenged to prove which relationships
were identities and which ones were not symbolically. The students worked in tables of
four, and Sarah repeatedly asked students to share ideas, solution strategies, and pose
questions of others. In all observations of Sarah teaching, she is calm and confident in
front of the students. For a beginning teacher, I am especially impressed by her
awareness of student participation and engagement. She also effectively uses wait time
to quiet the class when needed, and exudes confidence in students abilities to solve
problems.

In relation to interpersonal traits, several come quickly to mind that will benefit her future
students. Sarah is dedicated, open-minded, flexible and caring. Sarah is also well liked
by peers and viewed as a stellar teammate. At times, peers rely upon Sarah too much, as
she tends to quickly take ownership of tasks and also sets high expectations. Sarahs
breadth of skills enable her to pursue innovative ideas through realization, but at times,
her ideas are beyond the skills or comfort level of teammates. Lastly, Sarah grew up in
an area of Des Moines with high diversity, and she exhibits excellent interpersonal skills
with all types of people. Sarahs enthusiasm for teaching and life in general is
contagious, and she will bring energy and deep caring to her future classrooms.

Please contact me with any further questions, as I am glad to continue the conversation.

Sincerely,

Maryann E. Huey
 Maryann E. Huey
Assistant Professor
Mathematics Education
110 Howard Hall
2507 University Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50311

Phone: (515) 271-2830

maryann.huey@drake.edu

Letter of reference for:

 Maryann E. Huey
Assistant Professor
Mathematics Education
110 Howard Hall
2507 University Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50311

Phone: (515) 271-2830

maryann.huey@drake.edu

I am pleased to write this letter of recommendation for Ms. Sarah Jarnigan. I

served as her academic advisor from 2013 through 2016, and I was her instructor at
Drake University for Teaching Secondary Mathematics during the spring of 2016. Ms.
Jarnigan also worked as a student researcher with me on a Mathematics and Science
Partnership Grant awarded by the Iowa Department of Education, titled Statistics
and Probability, Content and Pedagogy, for Teaching Secondary Students. In
addition, I served as Ms. Jarnigans capstone advisor and observed her during
student teaching.

Ms. Jarnigan has performed exceptionally well in all her coursework during the
later years of her time at Drake University and was awarded the Mathematics and
Computer Science Departments annual Outstanding Student Achievement Award for
mathematics education during the 2015-2016 academic year. She was awarded this
honor due to her academic achievements, as well as, her role in service-based
activities such as being a mathematics tutor both at Drake University and in local
high schools. Ms. Jarnigan also led the design of hands-on, technology-based,
mathematics activities for students in elementary, middle, and secondary schools
for our Science, Technology, Education, and Mathematics fare. In addition, Ms.
Jarnigan served as a teaching assistant to a faculty member for both Calculus 1
and Calculus 2 in order to learn more about teaching these topics. This was not a
paid position, but rather voluntary in nature. Lastly, Ms. Jarnigan made
tremendous contributions to the grant activities through revising statistics and
probability lesson plans and activities, organizing documentation for teachers in
relation to learning progressions in these domains, and general oversight of the
data management required for a large grant project. The receipt of this award
coupled with Sarahs impressive list of extracurricular activities are testaments
to her commitment to becoming an excellent mathematics teacher. Many of these
opportunities are open to all students, but few utilize them to the same extent as
Sarah.

During her capstone project, Ms. Jarnigan developed three lesson plans that
showcased her deep knowledge of mathematics, ability to incorporate technology
tools, and make connections to real-world applications. Ms. Jarnigan has designed
mathematics activities in GeoGebra and is comfortable using a variety of
technology tools. The dual-degree awarded to Ms. Jarnigan consists of a bachelors
of science in Mathematics, as well as, a bachelors of science in secondary
education. At Drake University, we offer the dual-degree program for those
students who wish to pursue higher-level mathematics, which places Sarah in a
category of mathematical knowledge that exceeds the typical beginning mathematics
teacher.

I observed Ms. Jarnigan teach upon several occasions. During one lesson at, Sarah
created an innovated lesson plan to help students learn trigonometric identities
in a Precalculus class. The task encouraged students to verify identities
graphically using DesMos, an online tool, and then students were challenged to
prove which relationships were identities and which ones were not symbolically.
The students worked in tables of four, and Sarah repeatedly asked students to
share ideas, solution strategies, and pose questions of others. In all
observations of Sarah teaching, she is calm and confident in front of the
students. For a beginning teacher, I am especially impressed by her awareness of
student participation and engagement. She also effectively uses wait time to quiet
the class when needed, and exudes confidence in students abilities to solve
problems.

In relation to an overseas opportunity, several of Ms. Jarnigans traits come

quickly to mind that would suit her and her future students well. Sarah is
dedicated, open-minded, flexible and caring. Sarah is also well liked by peers and
viewed as a stellar teammate. At times, peers rely upon Sarah too much, as she
tends to quickly take ownership of tasks and also sets high expectations. Sarahs
breadth of skills enable her to pursue innovative ideas through realization, but
 Maryann E. Huey
Assistant Professor
Mathematics Education
110 Howard Hall
2507 University Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50311

Phone: (515) 271-2830

maryann.huey@drake.edu

at times, her ideas are beyond the skills or comfort level of teammates. Lastly,
Sarah grew up in an area of Des Moines with high diversity, and she exhibits
excellent interpersonal skills with all types of people. Sarahs enthusiasm for
teaching and life in general is contagious, and she will bring energy and deep
caring to her future classrooms. Please contact me with any further questions, as
I am glad to continue the conversation.