WYOMING HIGH SCHOOL106 PENDERY AVENUEWYOMING, OHIO 45215

AARON M. MARSHALL, Principal High School Office: (513) 206-7050ASHLEY L. WHITELY, Assistant Principal High School Fax: (513) 206-7132JAN WILKING, Athletic Director Athletic Department: (513) 206-7057MONICA MOORE, Guidance Counselor (9, 10 grade) Guidance Office: (513) 206-7114 CYNTHIA MEIS, College Counselor (12 grade A-L) Guidance Fax: (513) 206-7131KARA M. USSERY, Guidance/College Counselor (11, 12 grade M-Z)

Recommendation for Mr. Ty Fitzgerald

I have worked side-by-side with Mr. Fitzgerald for the last seven years, during which time I have come to know him as an enthusiastic teacher, innovator, and inspiration. Mr. Fitzgerald teaches the Engineering classes at Wyoming High School while I teach Algebra and Computer Science directly across the hall. The connections between our STEM fields have provided opportunities to observe each other in action and work together many times.

In the daily classroom Mr. Fitzgerald’s love of Engineering is evident by the excitement that he shows when he teaches. He doesn’t just present the information to the students; he takes time to point out how amazing and useful the topics are. Nothing is presented as simply a necessity, but framed in a way that makes it seem of the utmost importance. His energy and enthusiasm translates into the students and their creations. I have seen him succeed in getting at-risk students to produce worthy projects when the rest of the teachers in the building cannot get them to do a single piece of homework. Students constantly ask to go to his lab instead of sitting at lunch or in a study hall so they can put extra work in on their Ping-Pong ball launcher or CAD drawing.

Another way Mr. Fitzgerald outshines the other teachers in the building is that he is willing to try new teaching techniques that may help his students. About five years back our district introduced the BlackBoard content management system used in many schools. While the other teachers were grumbling about another requirement that just took up time and got in the way of “true teaching”, Ty dove in and started writing projects and assessments that were run off of BlackBoard. He was truly ahead of the learning curve. There were numerous times where neither he nor I could make something work the way he wanted and had to contact our district BlackBoard guru or even the Learn21 consortium which provides us with the BlackBoard service to find out how to make it work. With the arrival of Student Learning Objectives (SLO) Ty again dove in and developed a whole system of assessments for each of his Engineering classes and had them in place before the rest of us even bothered to look at the required paperwork. He is quick to see the educational value in things and understand how it applies to his classroom.

Personally Ty served as an inspiration for me. I consider myself a good solid classroom teacher. I have worked hard over the years to collect quality items and develop strong lessons for the students. What I did not do though is look outside of my classroom. Once Ty came he challenged me to look outside of my four walls and see how I could connect my Computer Science courses to what else was going on in the building and in the world. The first project he challenged me on was when I was teaching Web Design. He challenged my students to create not just fun websites, but sites that took on meaning via a different subject matter. We collaborated and had my students create sites that demonstrated projects that his Engineering students had created. In addition the kids weren’t allowed to talk to one another face-to-face. All of the information was acquired digitally via emails, online chats, and video conferences (even though our classrooms were across from each other) providing a truly real-world experience.

The largest STEM related project Mr. Fitzgerald and I started was the Wyoming High School Robotics Club. Ty came to me looking for a way to “put it all together” and draw from Engineering to Computer Science to Algebra and whatnot to find a truly STEM capstone project. Students from all factions within the building are enjoying after school time researching, designing, drafting, building, and destroying BattleBots for the XTreme Bots series (MadeInOhio.us). The destruction comes at the end of the year in the last-man-standing BattleBots competition at Wright State University’s Nutter Center where many schools pit saw blades versus beater bars versus simple wedges to see who remains standing at the end. Students use research skills honed in English classes, communication skills from Oral Communications, math skills learned in Algebra and Trig and wiring and design skills learned in

Engineering to create a $1500 robot from scratch, only to be destroyed at the end of the year. The first year we started with 5 students or so and one robot. This year we have roughly 25 students and 4 robots, with students joining every week. Without Mr. Fitzgerald’s recruiting skills, Engineering skills, and enthusiasm the club would have never gotten off the ground and been as successful as it is.

I would like to leave you with some final thoughts about Ty Fitzgerald. I am jealous of the way he gets to know each of his students. He always seems to know which kids were in the wrestling meet over the weekend, or which colleges at which they are looking, or what issues they are having at home. I’ve tried for years but never seem to make those connections. Ty has the ability to get people to open up to him and talk about their lives. He truly cares about the people around him whether they are staff or students.

In summary I fully recommend Mr. Ty Fitzgerald for any position, whether it is teaching in a classroom or an administrative posting. His professionalism in the classroom is outstanding and his drive to better the programs and people around him is inspiring.

Sincerely,

Christopher N. DeWitt

Wyoming High SchoolComputer Science, Math, and Musicdewittc@wyomingcityschools.org513.206.7050

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