A Commnnity Committed to Excellence December 2, 2014 Grand Lagos Mahisehoot ‘To Whom It May Concern: My name is Dave Kushman, and I am a special education teacher at Grand Ledge High School. I would like to take this opportunity to discuss why | feel james Duell would be an excellent candidate to attend your university. James is a hard-working, motivated, and responsible young man that carries himself with pride and confidence. He also maintains a high level of integrity for himself and those around him, However, these aforementioned traits were not always in sync throughout his high school career. Asa freshman, James struggled academically and behaviorally because he lacked confidence in himself and trust in others. Through his freshman and part of his sophomore years, James graduated from my program through hard work and determination; he essentially went from receiving several hours of support-based courses to receiving almost zero hours of support each day. During his junior year, James independently sought out his counselor to put together a plan to remediate credits that were lost during the first part of his freshman year. Even though his plan to remediate credits was extremely intense and practically impossible for most students, James was able to find the determination and motivation to adhere to his plan and make up his lost credits, In addition to remediating credits, James routinely made the honor role throughout his junior and senior years. Lastly, James was also an athlete during his high school career; he was a contributing member of the football, wrestling, and track/field teams each year. In short, James has proven over the past four years that he is a hard—working, motivated, and responsible young man that maintains a high level of integrity for himself and those around him, Therefore, | have no reservation recommending James to be a representative of your university. In my eight years as a special education teacher, I have never seen a student make so much growth, and I know he will continue to grow into the future because of his desperate effort mentality. Please feel free to contact me with questions of comments. LL Kb ets. Sincerely, Dave Kushi GLHS SPED El kushmand@gle (517) 925-5899 49897 + 517] 925-5815» FAX 517) 925-5829 & 820 Spring Stoo ® Grond