Dear Future President

The Honorable President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C.

February 23, 2016

Dear Next President,
My name is Angela Rose Gerardi and I am current university education and communications student at Colorado Statue University in Fort Collins, CO. What I love about my school is the drive to make a difference for the future generations in caring for the planet, and changing the paradigm of education.  
At a time when standardized testing has become the norm and is taking up a month out of the school year for preparation work and testing time, my classes have come up with other ways of testing our country's youth in a more community-based, self-explorative way, while still aiming high at covering all required standards. In my writing in the discipline class, our professor, Cindy O'Donnell-Allen has structured our class so that we are doing a lot of writing but within a framework that allows us to self-pace, utilize media(blogging and twitter), and giving and receiving feedback from peers.  We are working with a badge system that gives us three levels to complete for each badge.  These badges rather than tests or research papers encompass a recorded portfolio of work that includes our own reflections on our work, research in the field of study, and a finished product.  
I find this style of assessment as demanding much more personal investment than what I have experienced in other classes, and previous experience in high school. 
I beg you to check out our class website where Cindy has recorded some pivotal moments as well as our personal blogs!  
You will see how intricate this process of creating a portfolio is and hopefully will bear witness to the validity and value of such a style of assessment.  
Education always has been and always will be a cornerstone of our country and a window into the future of our country, policymakers, business people, and educators.  
I urge you to reconsider the current public policies on education, and consider putting teachers and classrooms at the center of education.  

Thank you for serving our country!
Sincerely,
Angela Rose