January 16, 2006

Mark J. Simons

WEAC Field Representative

13805 W. Burleigh Rd.

Brookfield , WI 53005

Mr. Simons,

            I am writing to you on behalf of Josh Dick a candidate for the WEAC Intern program. I have known Josh for about 8 years as a fellow teacher in the Cedar Grove Belgium Middle School . During this time I have also worked with him as a part of our local’s association leadership team. Josh has been on our negotiations team for the past three contracts and has served as the head of the negotiation team for the past two contracts. As President of our association I have been able to observe Josh in this capacity and to see how tirelessly he works at understanding and teaching about the issues involved in negotiations. He has excellent understanding of the issues concerning negotiations and contract language and has used this knowledge to create power point presentations for use with our board and with our members. These power point presentations have been very effective in explaining our position on financial issues and showing how we compare with other districts.

            Josh brings with him not only great understanding of the issues and math of contract negotiations but also an abundant amount of energy and positive attitude. He has great listening skills and is able to think quickly on his feet. He has good people skills and is able to remain calm under pressure – all skills that a Uniserv director must have. Josh’s knowledge in computer technology has been very helpful to our district and to the association. He has used these skills to create the power point presentations mentioned above, to create salary schedules for our negotiation team’s proposals, to create a school calendar for negotiations and has created an on line survey for our association members to fill out on various contract issues. 

            Josh has taken extra steps to become knowledgeable for his position as a negotiator by attending winter academies sponsored by WEAC. He also regularly attends the negotiator meetings held by CLUE.

            I highly recommend Josh as a candidate for Uniserv Director intern.

Yours in service to the teaching profession,

Tim Hatfield