1. March 2016
Recommendation for Lucy Dawson
Shortly after our Head of Upper School posted the announcement of Lucy’s departure, I began
getting emails. “Such a loss!” and “I am so sorry” were typical responses, and I heard much the
same the next day when colleagues saw me in the hall. These sentiments sum up what Lucy has
become in her 4 ½ short years at McDonogh -- a central figure in both the English department and
the community as a whole.
To begin with, Lucy is a gifted teacher whose breadth of knowledge and intellectual passions make
her able to teach an enormously wide range of texts, from Aristotle to graphic novels. She is
always interested in improving her pedagogy and has been one of the leaders in the department in
attending conferences and workshops in project-based learning and team-based learning. After
moving through our Macbeth project her first year, which we teach by the Folger Shakespeare Set
Free performance-based method, Lucy became a convert of this more active and engaging style of
teaching and designed electives to employ it. She also took the lead in designing a project for the
Food in Literature elective we teach together. The project was designed to get students to
understand the food system in Baltimore city, which is less than perfect for many residents, and
students were put in groups to choose one problem, research past solutions, then come up with
their own solution that they then presented to an outside expert. Lucy also uses carefully
structured student-led discussions frequently. As you can see, a common thread in her pedagogy is
student engagement and ownership of their own learning. Having read her student feedback for
four years I can tell you that students both love her and learn from her. My own teaching has
improved by working with Lucy as her work leads me to question and refine my pedagogical
practices.
Outside the classroom Lucy has been an active member of the department and the school
community. Always willing to try new things and to dive in where needed, Lucy has coached cross
country and girls’ soccer, supported diversity initiatives, and taken on leadership roles. She is in the
second year as Character Coordinator for the Upper School, and her vision and sense of mission
have create many fantastic service opportunities for students, connecting them in meaningful ways
with the community outside our campus. Within the department, she is the tenth grade team
leader this year and a mentor for a new teacher. Lucy is organized, plans ahead, and runs a great
meeting in which all voices are heard but good work gets done in a timely fashion. I certainly
regarded her as a future chair of our department.
Lucy describes herself as a “pathological extrovert,” and this quality informs everything she
does. She is the first to volunteer to cover a class when a colleague is sick or to participate in some
extra activity. Just last week she played (again) in the annual faculty-student basketball game, even

2. though she doesn’t play basketball, and was a member of the faculty step squad in the Faculty-
Senior Follies (ask her to show you her moves). And Lucy always wears the best costumes to school
during Halloween and our annual Spirit Week. In short, she is both fun and funny, and I have been
privileged to count as a friend as well as a colleague.
I have had to edit myself severely to keep this recommendation to a reasonable length, but I would
be more than happy to elaborate on how and why Lucy would be a wonderful asset to your
school. Please do not hesitate to contact me.
Cynthia Cox
Head, English department
ccox@mcdonogh.org