2011 11 15 CHARACTER "Scott Patton" LETTER

Letter of Reference

November, 2011
Mt. Lebanon Senior High School
155 Cochran Road, Pittsburgh PA 15228
(412) 344-2043 (412) 344-2021
Technology Education Department
R. S. Patton, teacher - RETIRED
fax patton@pulsenet.com
Re:
Barton James Christner
I have been asked by Barton James Christner to write a letter of reference on his behalf. It is my understanding that he will make use of this letter as a part of his background reference material as he seeks to expand and enhance the scope and responsibilities of his professional endeavors.
He has my full permission to copy it for this use and those to whom he submits this as a part of his application process are welcome to contact me personally for any necessary verification, updating or person-to-person interface.
I have known Bart Christner for 35 years.
I first met Bart when he was a high school student in my Technical Drawing, Architectural Drawing, Architectural Design and Independent Study classes. I recognized early-on his ability to combine technical fields with a creative, artistic approach. I see this today in his photographic work; I first observed it in his architectural work which excelled for a high school student. One of the class projects was the redesign of a kitchen/dining/great room for a 200 year-old traditional farmhouse. Bart's design was "best-in-show" and had all of the elements of "professional" work, combining function with appropriate form. Starting in 9th grade he was also a member of our school's Outing Club of which I was the faculty sponsor. In his Junior and Senior years he served as the club's president and he interfaced with me directly in the planning and carrying-out of monthly outings. (One of the club's activities was whitewater kayaking and Bart became an expert kayaker. In college he also became active in the outing club and he personally organized and directed his college's kayaking program.) My personal summer work involved commercial whitewater rafting enterprises and when he was a senior in high school I "commissioned" him for a screen-print tee-shirt design and the result was superb.
After college Bart returned to this area and sought employment.
Through my affiliation in the summer season with the commercial whitewater outfitting business, I hired Bart as a whitewater video producer- a "video boater". He utilized his paddling ability to accompany the raft trips via kayak and captured the essence of the day on video. Following the trip he would edit and present his day's video creation to the rafting patrons. He utilized his technical and creative skills to produce an entertaining video and he utilized his upbeat, personable character in the presentation to make the program a warm and memorable wrap-up of the day and an integral part of the guest's memories of the trip.
Later Bart became involved in his community, running an after-school extracurricular digital education program for technically-inclined kids. The program included digital art and photography and utilized all of the computer-related interfaces, hardware and software for those fields. At his invitation, he and I "team-taught" in that program on several occasions.
Since he came into my classroom as a high school freshman and since we worked and taught together when he was a young adult, it is an understatement to say that I have come to know him well- as a student, as an employee, as a co-teacher and co-worker and as a person. I assure you that he is an exemplary young man. He is reliable. He is personable. He is intelligent. He is talented. He has a good sense of humor. He is a sincere individual with a can-do attitude. He will make a positive contribution to any program of which he is a part.
He has never let me down and, perhaps most importantly, he has never given me cause to question his personal integrity for a moment, a comment that I do not make lightly.
His personal life and career path have now taken Bart far from this area, but we have stayed in touch and I have been pleased to see him continue to grow in the digital art field, both professionally and as an educator. I am especially pleased to see how he continues to revel in creating and sharing through the medium of this form of artistic expression. As I saw with his sharing of the raft trip videos, he is truly in his element as he creates and interacts- then with his guests and now with his students. His talent to interface with others and his enthusiasm for what he does is inspiring.
I have taught and interfaced with literally thousands of "kids" over the years and I can truthfully say that Barton James Christner would be among the top handful in terms of those with which I would choose to work- personally or professionally.
Sincerely yours,
R. Scott Patton, educator
P.S.
I mentioned above several "projects" in which Bart Christner and I were mutually involved. However, there were many, many more. Bart compiled a list of those and I've attached it (dated items below) to this letter and if you would wish to discuss any or all of them further- or to discuss any other element of this letter- do not hesitate to contact me.
As I am now retired from Mt. Lebanon High School, my personal contact information is as follows:
R. Scott Patton
Email: patton@pulsenet.com
October, 2011
Scott,
Thank you! Listed is a brief third-person chronology, highlights of the past three decades:
1982 A-Student in R. Scott Patton's Technical Drawing courses; Joined Outing Club
1983 Continued Descriptive Geometry courses; Enrolled in Scott Patton's kayak sessions
1984 Courses creating blueprints; Nominated by Scott Patton as President of Outing Club
1985 Scale model home; Lead trips, four states and Canada; Harricana t-shirt designed
1986 Model built; Varsity soccer; Program cover design; High School Grad: A-Student
1987 College at Clemson Engineering; Joined three Whitewater and Outing Clubs
1988 President of two Outing Clubs; "Video Boater" with Mountain Streams Outfitter
1989 Clemson Graphic Communications; Chair Outdoor Rec, and V.P. University Union
1990 "Video Boater" on Youghiogheny/Cheat Rivers; Formed Kayak Training Program
1991 Program Covers Designed; 300 Taught to roll a kayak; Graduate B.S. in Graphics
1992 Hewn authentic logs, hauled to Ohiopyle, constructed into Replica Historic Cabin
1995 Cheat Canyon, "Mr. B & Mr. J." published in Three Rivers Paddling Newsletter
1997 Cheat Canyon, Lead constable?s raft, recovered drowned 17 year-old Michigan girl
1999 Buzzlemania, video scene contributions to "Legend Team C" and "Silent Thunder"
2000 R. Scott Patton, mentor, friend, "Best-Man" in Barton James Christner's wedding
2002 Cabin Painting, stretched to canvas, presented and exhibited on interior wall
2003 TOURon Ohiopyle, stand-alone "tourist" video, preview to daily raft trip videos
2005 Suburban Living Magazine; R. Scott Patton featured on cover, article/photography
2006 Co-taught with R. Scott Patton, courses at Washington Arts Community Center
2006 Bart Christner received "Educator of Year", Washington Superintendent's Award
Sincerely,
Bart