Re: Ms. Jessica Baldizon, Excellence in Teaching
Dear Bridgeport Public Education Fund, Friends, & Educational Leaders,
In my 2nd year as the Director of the Connecticut Writing Project at Fairfield University, a wide-eyed, enthusiastic, and tremendously empathetic student enrolled in a course called, Teaching Writing: 3rd through 12th Grade. She was the only student earning a Masters in TESOL: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages in the course, and we bonded over my research with refugee-youth and an intention to serve them in Fairfield County. Knowing she was an exceptional student, I asked if she’d be interested (as a Grad Student) in piloting a one-week writing camp for refugee youth and she was all-in. This, of course, is history, because Jessica Baldizon has been “all-in” ever since. I’m in my 27th year of teaching and have served communities all over the nation and world. I don’t think I’m able to name another educator as dedicated, passionate, hard-working, motivated, and driven as Jessica. She is, without a doubt, deserving of a Bridgeport Outstanding Teacher Award. In fact, she is deserving of national teaching awards, as well.
Jessica Baldizon has the same mission I’ve had since finishing my teaching certification degree and it has been to serve urban districts and to provide the best education to ALL children. She immediately took employment at Cesar Batalla K-8 and quickly made a name for herself as the focused educator I knew she’d become. Jessica Baldizon continued to work with CWP-Fairfield during summer months and together we established Ubuntu Academy, a two-week summer institute for refugee and immigrant youth. Through her brilliance at Cesar Batalla, her volunteerism with Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants, and her genuine kindness to human beings everywhere, she helped establish tradition that continues to get recognized across the nation with awards and accolades. I’m attaching a published article about our collaborations with this letter simply to showcase the level of dedication she has to the work.
In addition, Jessica Baldizon designed another summer program called Little Lab for Big Imaginations. These are one-week writing camps for kids in grades 3-5. Also an award-winning program, Jessica is the lead teacher who not only mentors the young people who attend, but also takes on undergraduate students volunteering to assist, as well as older youth attending Ubuntu Academy who, as English language learners, assist the instruction. The philosophy of human togetherness and being a woman for others radiates from wherever she teaches.
I wish to highlight, too, that Jessica’s work is nationally and internationally known. Yearly, she presents at the National Council of Teachers of English and in 2020, she even presented with Actor/Author/UN Ambassador Ger Duany (I Heart Huckaabees and The Good Lie) and Christopher Myers, son of Walter Dean Myers and co-founder of #WeNeedDiverseBooks. Jessica has led numerous workshops in Bridgeport Public Schools, presented to faculty at Fairfield University, and is a speaker each summer during CWP’s Summer Leadership Institute for Teachers, where she always advocates for the literacy excellence of the young people she serves. She is promotes English language learners, diversity, equity, high standards, literacy, books in the hands of every child, and writing with everyone she meets I wish to highlight, too, that every spring, middle school teachers in Greenwich request Jessica’s expertise as their 8th grade curriculum requires social activism and they choose to showcase the work that Jessica does for both CWP and Bridgeport Public Schools.
Jessica Baldizon also works with HOPE Club, an after-school reading/writing/speaking program she designed with students at Bassick High School. Every Thursday, ESL high school students come to Cesar Batalla to mentor younger student, build mentoring relationships, take field trips, and encourage language acquisition.
Finally, I couldn’t write a letter of recommendation without applauding Jessica Baldizon’s work with the Saugatuck Story Fest - a 3-day literary event hosted at Westport Library. Although Covid put a dent in the tradition, Jessica was responsible for bringing young people from Bridgeport to the festival to work with writers like R.L Stine, Nic Stone, Tiffany Jackson, Jason Reynolds, Ibi Zoboi, and Jerry Craft. Because she is a networker and a bridge, she finds ways to see that immigrant and refugee youth are given a seat at the table, too. In 2018 and 2019, she also made sure Bridgeport students were in attendance for the screening of Ubuntu Matters and a keynote visit from Jacqueline Woodson, a writer chosen for the EveryOneReads initiative of Fairfield County.
Ubuntu is centered as a ‘we’ philosophy: I can be me, because of who we are together. Jessica lives this to the core, always finding a way to promote her community over herself. She is a champion for others who lives her life to assure success. She gives tirelessly, networks like no other, and remains one of the most organized human beings I know. In fact, over the last couple of years it has been Jessica who celebrates fellow teachers at Cesar Batalla and helps Fairfield University to bring under-graduates to the school to read, write, and think with teachers and kids in a wide variety of ways
I write this letter knowing I have the faculty and staff at Fairfield University behind me. Deans, Provosts, scholars, and students, alike, are aware of the excellence Jessica Baldizon brings to Bridgeport, Fairfield University, the world, and most importantly, to her students.
I cannot think of another educator as deserving of your recognition than Jessica Baldizon. As a past recipient of an Elizabeth M. Pfriem Civic Award, I understand the dedication of the Bridgeport Public Education Fund and the great work you do. Jessica Baldizon deserves your recognition, too.
Bryan Ripley Crandall, Ph.D.
Connecticut Writing Project-Fairfield Director & Associate Professor
School of Education and Human Development