_________________________________________

Department of Human Movement Sciences

Student Recreation Center, Suite 2006
Norfolk, Virginia 23529-0196
Phone: (757) 683-4995 Fax: (757) 683-4270

10/24/2022

From: Justin A. Haegele, PhD, CAPE, Associate Professor, Department of Human Movement Sciences, Old Dominion University.

RE: Letter of Recommendation; Ms. Nicolette Hourihan

To whom this may concern:

It is my pleasure to submit this letter of recommendation for Ms. Nicolette Hourihan to support her pursuit of a health and physical
education teacher position. I have known Ms. Hourihan as an intelligent and thoughtful undergraduate student pursuing a health
and physical education degree since Fall 2020. She has excelled in our undergraduate program, which is evidenced by her being
named as our Major of the Year at the National SHAPE America convention in 2022.

I have had the opportunity to get to know Ms. Hourihan during her time in my HPE 200 (intro to PE) and HPE 404 (adapted physical
education) courses, as well as through informal conversations about the field outside of class settings. Within our HPE 404 course
specifically, there are two components, a lecture and a lab. During the lecture component, Ms. Hourihan was thoughtful with her
comments and contributed regularly to conversations about disability and educating those experiencing a variety of special
educational needs. In the lab context, Ms. Hourihan was assigned to work in a one-to-one setting with a young girl with autism. In
this setting, which includes little guidance, Ms. Hourihan excelled. She seamlessly constructed a positive relationship with her child,
assessed her needs, and developed a meaningful and enjoyable physical activity plan with her that she executed over a 10-week
period. I was incredibly impressed with Ms. Hourihan’s work, and believe she has natural teaching ability that is not something that
can be taught. This has led to me recommending Ms. Hourihan to pursue graduate work in adapted physical education, of which I
think she would be a wonderful addition to the field. In addition to her coursework, she has volunteered at numerous other events
on campus, such as the little feet meet in 2021 and 2022, the big feet meet in 2022, and the Mighty Monarchs adapted sports
program in 2021.

In closing, I believe that Ms. Hourihan is a well-prepared candidate for a health and physical education teaching position. She is a
high character individual who has demonstrated the passion and desire to be an excellent health and physical educator. While we,
as a department, will miss having Ms. Hourihan as a student, but we are happy to see her continue to pursue a career where she will
be instrumental in the lives of children.

Thank you for considering this excellent candidate,

Justin A. Haegele, Ph.D., CAPE

Associate Professor
Department of Human Movement Sciences
Darden College of Education
Old Dominion University

Old Dominion University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution.