Kai was enthusiastic, energetic, and well-organized. I enjoyed getting to know her as a person and I found her capable, working as a special education teacher of students with emotional disturbance, autism spectrum disorder, and cognitive and learning disabilities.

Dr. Dianne Zager, Ph.D - Professor Pace University

Ms. Kai Smith utilized her transformational leadership skills, cordial nature and business awareness to facilitate the development of school and business relationships that benefited our culturally diverse student population. As a teacher, Ms. Kai Smith immediately proved herself to be a valuable member of our school community. Kai arrived with a well developed educational background which when coupled with her leadership skills brought our program to new levels of success. Our administration was continually impressed with Kai’s ability to reach members of our business community fostering the development of new career opportunities for our young adults. Her ability to identify student strengths and areas of need furthered our school’s goal as Kai developed individualized job training curricula for students. After placement Kai routinely extended herself by continuing her role as a job coach for graduate students.

Christopher Furtick, Former NYDOE Dean