To: Sherry Elwood, Superintendent, School District 71

CC: School District 71 Trustees

You probably get fewer complimentary letters than letters of complaint, so we wish to counter this tendency and thank you, particularly, for one of the faculty appointments that was made in September 2013 for the Denman Island Community School.

Phil Apter is a remarkable teacher, who has inspired the island’s children to a degree that not only do they look forward to his classes, but they bring home with them an infectious enthusiasm for the specifics of what they are learning. He is both sensitive and informed, nurturing students when required, and challenging them when needed. Learning with him seems to be a joyful yet intense experience, and in just a few short months, he has added immeasurably to the educational climate of our school.

Denman Island, and Denman School, are small, yet sensitive units in the greater School District 71, which is why every personnel decision is of such exquisite importance.

So again, thank you for Phil Apter, he presents to our children an example that we enjoy seeing them follow.

We, the undersigned, are signatories to this letter.