LAKESIDE CHURCH of Chicago 3939 Howard, Skokie IL 60076 Tel: 847.763.9720 Fax: 847.763.977 9 Email: lakesidechurchofchicago@yahoo.com Website: www.lakesidechurchofchicago.org

May 31,2013

Re : Zachariah Wiedeman

To Whom It May Concern:

It is my pleasure to provide a strong recommendation for Zachariah Wiedeman for a youth services position with your company. As Children's Ministries Director at Lakeside I have had various opportunities to both supervise and observe Zachariah working and interacting with children.

Zachariah served as our recreation leader for Summer Vacation Bible School in 2007. In this position he was responsible for assessing curriculum and developing age-appropriate (4 yrs old to 6th grade) games and activities that supported and reinforced the themes being presented in the lessons during the five days of VBS. Zachariah supervised his own team of youth assistants in setting up and overseeing recreation for the 60 children that attended VBS.

After having served so proficiently during VBS, Zachariah was recruited to serve in our Sunday morning Children's Program for the school year 2007-2008. He was solely responsible for large group instruction which required him to review curriculum and teach children ranging in age from l 5

t-sth grade in an interactive and engaging manner. Also of great importance was developing relationships, providing a strong role model, and maintaining discipline in the classroom.

In addition to these positions that I recruited Zachariah to work for I had many opportunities to observe him interacting with children and youth of all ages. In fact, his natural ability to connect with children, his genuine curiousity and interest in people, his inherent desire to share knowledge, his creativity and capacity for "outside the box" thinking and problem solving, his profound respect for truth and honesty, and his musical giftedness and interests combine to make him an excellent candidate for a youth services position. These characteristics are to be valued for any type of employment, but it is especially important to practice the highest level of care in hiring the people that will influence and care for children and, by extension, provide a service to their families.

It is without hesitation that I recommend Zachariah to be a part of your organization .

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Karen K. Hiyama Children's Ministries Director

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