1. From: Supt Runcie February 10, 2014 3:50:02 PM Subject: Re:
Outstanding teacher M rs. Amy DeCelleTo: Lisa Bentley Cc: Danielle
L. Austin Colette Azael Erik L. Anderson Amy M . DecelleM s.
Bentley,It is always a pleasure to receive a letter such as yours,
filled with glowing praise for M s. DeCelle at Tropical Elementary.
I will be printing this for M r. Runcie's mail folder, and I would
like to share this with some other Administrative staff members as
well.It is wonderful to hear that your children are thriving due to
the efforts of this truly dedicated teacher at your school.Thank
you so very much for sharing your thoughts on M s. DeCelle, and I
wish your children a bright academic future.Ellen TolsonOffice of
the Superintendent754-321-2600Under Florida law, e-mail addresses
are public record. Your e-mail address and the contents of any
e-mail sent to the sender of this communication will be released in
response to any request for public records except as excluded by
F.S. 119.071, 1002.22(3)(d) [student records], or any other law of
the State of Florida. If you do not want your e-mail address to be
released as part of any public records request, do not send e-mail
to this address, rather contact this office by phone or in writing.
Lisa Bentley on January 28, 2014 at 5:03 PM-0500 wrote: I am
writing this letter to you to let you know about my sons wonderful
teacher M rs. Amy DeCelle. I have known M rs. DeCelle for over 7
years, she was my son Travis Bentleys first grade teacher and now
she is my son Eric Bentleys second grade teacher. I have seen her
make an impact on not only my sons but on so many other students in
and out of her class. She has helped my sons to have drive and
motivation for learning that has made such an impact on me that I
had to write this letter to let you know what an amazing teacher M
rs. DeCelle is. I volunteer in M rs.DeCelles class on a weekly
basis and the projects and skills she is teaching these students
are at a middle school level. The children are doing power point
presentations in class, learning and writing a book. They are so
excited about learning that they love doing research and enjoy
looking up information in a dictionary. It is so rare to see a
teacher have such an impact on so many students lives. She teaches
them skills that will impact them as lifelong learners.She has
taught them about acts of kindness at Thanksgiving time. The entire
class cleaned all the garbage around the school and gave up their
recess time to do this wonderful act. M rs.Decelle incorporated
Thanksgiving as a time to show your thankfulness by making an
impact on the world around you. It is not just the big acts of
kindness but seeing the students relate the acts of kindness to
their everyday lives, from saying kind words to one another, to
growing their hair to donate it to an organization for cancer. To
the students making New Year resolutions and placing it on their
desk so they are able to reflect on it the entire year as it should
be. M rs. Decelle is not only teaching the children the curriculum
but she is also facilitating projects to produce empathetic
successful citizens. Her lessons are ongoing and students are
constantly applying their knowledge to many elements students have
difficulty with, for example prefix and suffix. She has ongoing
games which the students using prefix and suffix in everyday life
and then they break it apart to tell the meaning. For example
paperless and they know it means without paper. I have seen a child
that was reading at kindergarten level that was promoted to second
grade and is now reading at third grade 6th month level. To seeing
my son Eric Bentley who would be so nervous to come to school every
day in first grade that his stomach would hurt. To now seeing my
son in second grade love learning and excited about going to
school. His level of reading has jumped from average when he
started M rs. Decelles class to a fourth grade 9month level in just
5months.At the very beginning of second grade M rs. DeCelle asked
the parents to fill out a survey about the students cognitive,
social and emotional traits, and about what traits the parents are
proud of and what areas they would like to see them improve on.
Everything that I wanted to see my son improve on has exceeded my
expectations. M y son has come out of his shell, where at one point
his kindergarten teacher was telling me he maybe on the autistic
spectrum like his older brother Austin Bentley is. Now he is having
normal social interactions, expressing himself independently and
thriving socially. He has become a leader and not a follower, he
has become more independent and has confidence in himself and no
longer avoids eye contact.M rs. DeCelle makes learning fun and is
the most effective teacher who is passionate about learning and has
such an impact on students in the class and outside the class.
Being a 2. volunteer at Tropical Elementary for over 9 years and
knowing Mrs. DeCelle for over 7 years, I can tell you that she has
not only impacted the success of my children but is a reflection on
Tropical Elementary and Broward County Schools. Sincerely,Lisa
Bentley
