To whom it may concern: 4/18/2017

It is my honor to give Ashayla Byrd my highest recommendation to be considered to be the VBCPS VTfT Future Teacher
Contract Award Recipient. I have known Ashayla through advising her in the Salem High School Leadership Workshop
and the Salem Student Cooperative Association, or the SCA since her sophomore year. I have watched her grow into an
incredible young lady and leader over the course of three years. I can say unequivocally that Ashayla is an outstanding
student both inside and outside of the classroom. She has made her way up through the ranks of SCA from SCA General
Assembly to now serving as the SCA Vice-President and a member of the SCA Officer team. In this leadership role, she
oversees a committee of her peers and assists them with the planning and implementation of several school-wide
projects. She also was selected as the Virginia Beach City Public Schools City-Wide SCA Instructional Coordinator, a
leadership role she has taken on among her peers in the city in her senior year. Her dedication to our school is second to
none. Ashayla gives full effort to each organization that she commits to and strives to improve the activities, clubs, and
organizations that she is a part of. For the past four years, she has given her time and her talents to the Visual &
Performing Arts Dance and Vocal Strand, the SCA, City-Wide SCA, and numerous leadership workshop staffs and state
leadership conference staffs. She is multi-faceted and multi-talented, a skill that will serve her well on any college campus
that is lucky enough to host her!

Something that is particularly hard to balance amidst academic endeavors and student activities is a commitment to a
rigorous academic program. Her cumulative grade point average is a 3.94. A leadership role that Ashayla has served in
that I have been most impressed with her is in her role as the SCA Vice-President this year. She oversees the largest
committee in our student leadership organization and supervises the largest number of projects comparably to her peers.
When I need to call upon the hardest worker or the most reliable person in the room, I often ask for Ashayla to help me.
In working with some of the brightest and most dynamic student leaders in our school and city, I consider her to be at
the very top tier with work ethic and dependability when it is time to get our hands dirty and accomplish a task to benefit
the school. She is a self-motivated, self-starter who takes the ball and runs with it when it comes to student activities. I
have seen first-hand that she has a way with younger children, she is a positive influence and role-model and she is a
natural as a teacher in the classroom. Her internship in an elementary setting has prepared her to become familiar with
lesson planning, small group instruction, and understanding the developmental needs of her students in this age group.

Ashayla has a long list of community involvements and school accomplishments. She is what I like to refer to as the total
package in a student leader. Salem High is lucky to have had the opportunity to host a student like Ashayla, and her
service will be sorely missed when she graduates. In giving her time to activities like the Salem High School SCA,
Leadership Workshop, VPAA, and City-Wide SCA, she has given back to what has given to her in our Virginia Beach
community by modeling the way for others and mentoring our younger students.

Ashayla has an incredibly bright future ahead of her and will make a tremendous mark on the college campus. I know she
will succeed at anything she puts her mind to. She is an excellent choice for admission because of her outstanding
leadership, commitment to academics, work ethic, and service in her four years of high school. Please feel free to contact
me through email (Leslie.Lehner@VBSchools.com) or by phone at 757-648-5350 for any additional information.

Sincerely,

Leslie Lehner

Administrative Assistant, Green Run High School

Former SCA & Leadership Workshop Adviser, Salem High School