Mr.

Gerald Evans
Hungary Creek Middle School
4909 Francistown Rd.
Glen Allen, VA 23060

September 28, 2018

To whom it may concern:

I am writing a letter of recommendation for my former student, Ethan Brown. I am a Henrico County public school teacher who
has taught high school and middle school students throughout my career (since 2007). I met Ethan last September when he was
placed into my advanced English class, and I grew to know Ethan very well, and as a result, I feel I am a good judge of his abilities,
character, and work ethic. Please read below to understand more why I recommend Ethan highly for any position within your
organization.

As a teacher of middle school and high school English students, much of my time is spent forging relationships with students and
parents, instilling and reinforcing basic character strengths (such as social etiquette, manners, respect of others, and work ethic),
and ensuring an understanding of basic reading and writing skills (in that exact order). Often, this is a hard and thankless job,
but many times, I have the pleasure of teaching those well-rounded students who already have many of the basic skills I strive
to teach. It was evident from the start that Ethan was one of these students, and it was similarly evident that he was raised by
a family who valued education and the aforementioned character strengths. When this is the case with students, I am free to
expand my relationships, expand the students’ acceptance and understanding of the world they live in, and expand the students’
knowledge base of content-related skills. What inevitably ends up happening is that I forge a relationship with these students
that goes far beyond teacher/student.

I learned early that Evan was a hard worker. He pushed the envelope on every assignment given, even the ones designed as a
teaching opportunity, and not necessarily designed for the students to “pass.” Even when faced with seemingly unsolvable
problems presented, Ethan learned quickly to evaluate, troubleshoot, and overcome. Early on, it was a huge struggle for Ethan
to admit that he didn’t know something or that he made an error. He quickly learned to overcome these obstacles, just as he
did with all others in my class. He quickly became the unquestioned leader of his peers, and he pushed his peers to step up their
game in order to be on his level. I observed, covertly and overtly, as Ethan pushed to grow as a person, and not just as a student.
The end result of my 10 months with Ethan was a brilliant student and a very humbled and grateful teacher.

At the end of the school year, I opened up a competition to the best of the best of our 8 th grade class. Their task was to write
and present a speech that would encompass their time at our school, but also offer antidotal encouragement to their peers.
After sifting through countless applicants, reading TONS of speeches, and conducting countless speech presentations and
practices, our team chose Ethan as one of the two who would represent both teachers and students at the end of the year in
front of about 500 or more parents, family members, and friends of Hungary Creek students. As always, he knocked it out of the
park, and as always, he exceeded even my expectations of him.

Obviously all of this is to say that any organization would be lucky to have Ethan Brown, but this letter of recommendation goes
deeper than that. As teachers, we always have favorite students, even if that is an unpopular view. Even with that being said,
we understand that we are still teacher/student. It is the special student who is able to achieve on that level, and yet still
somehow go beyond that while staying completely professional within their prescribed role. Ethan is that student for me. I have
children of my own, but ultimately, I will always view Ethan as I view my own sons, even if it’s years until we meet again. This is
who he is, and this is what he will bring to your organization; he is a young man who will go beyond your expectations.

Thank you for your time,

Gerald D. Evans
Gerald Evans
Hungary Creek Middle School