10/30/2009



To Whom It May Concern

I am writing to offer a letter of recommendation for Caroll Hofmeister and her presentation of her book, The First Beaver. Her author and illustrator name is Caroll Simpson.

I am a retired educator, both teacher and administrator, with over 30 years of experience in schools. I recently took part in one of Caroll’s presentations in a small country school in Northern British Columbia. From the moment we walked in the door of the elementary school until we left, Caroll had the teachers, staff and students under her spell. Her positive energy is fed with the reading of her book, the tales that evolve from her large display of First Nation artifacts that she has researched and hand crafted herself and her explanation of the overall history of every element that she refers to in her book.

Every student in the school was assigned to a clan and produced their own mask, Caroll taught them the significance of the animal they represented and the legend that went with it. Because she was in charge of all the kids for the whole day, she had students return to the gym after lunch and she regrouped them into “Totems”. These were groups of multi age different clans who learned how to make their own totem and eventually their own legend. I was in total awe of Caroll’s ability to start the day with her presentation and to finish the day with students partaking in their own theatrical presentation of their group legend.

This experience was of tremendous value for the students and the staff. Caroll has a way of making every student believe that their contributions and questions are so important and worthwhile. And her modeling of publishing her story and illustrating every picture was enlightening for all. She is an excellent educator and I believe students anywhere would be enriched by any part of her presentation.

I would not hesitate for one minute to recommend Caroll Simpson’s presentation of The First Beaver to your school or district.



Sincerely
Connie Scott
Retired Educator