Recommendation

 Mr. Kevin Wolgemuth was my 11th Grade Honors English teacher at Hull High. He wrote me this letter of recommendation when I tried to get into college a few years back. He is a good man.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Kevin Wolgemuth" <klwolgemuth@hotmail.com>
To: cunnibunni1@yahoo.com
Cc:
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 17:33:00 -0500
Subject: Rough Draft
Michelle -- Give this a read-through and let me know if it works for you.  Enjoy!



Dear Admissions Committee:

It is with great confidence that I recommend Michelle Cuccia to your school and community. In the years that I have known her, Michelle has demonstrated herself to be creative and courageous with a remarkable ability to bring a new perspective to those around her.

Michelle was a standout three years ago when she began my English 11 Humanities course at Hull High School.  Her green hair and eccentric outfit were certainly unique.  Unlike other students who mimed artistic expression, however, Michelle's appearance was a sincere expression from within, as was quickly affirmed by her writing and participation.  For her journals, essays, and creative pieces, I initially felt the need to keep focusing Michelle.  She seemed to lack control, as her writing was an explosion of insights and connections.  When she was allowed to determine the flow of her work, however, she revealed her writing's power.  Her classmates submitted hastily typed drafts, one each.  Michelle submitted four drafts, the first three covered in cutting lines, rewrites, write-ins, sketches, and arrows.  They were chaotic.  But the final draft was exactly what she needed to say. Michelle's in-class contributions were similarly creative and precise.  As capable a listener as she is a leader, she demonstrated fine balance in respecting others' opinions while providing her own.  Her additions to class were insightful and thought-provoking, raising the conversation as well as her and her classmates' education.  Her creativity isn't merely worn: it is the real thing.

Following that year, I spoke with Michelle while she still attended and I still taught at Hull High School.  She explained the difficulties of her family life and her new hardships in surviving on her own.  Alone, she faced obstacles many adults have the good fortune to never know.  She never complained or questioned why, instead focusing on how she was working to reach her goals.  Few students earn their teacher's respect as an adult; fewer still are those that the teacher looks up to as a model of courage, dedication, and unflinching grace and humor.
Michelle Cuccia is the strongest individual I have met while teaching, and yet she is also the most genuine and compassionate.  I recommend her to you with certainty and enthusiasm.  She will bring to your educational community wisdom, creativity, appreciation, and awareness that will invigorate the classroom and the lives of her classmates and instructors.

 http://www.sbrsd.org/pages/faculty-staff.directory.html
 exerpt below from website directly above these words.

 Kevin Wolgemuth teaches Grades 9-12 English Language Arts. He was awarded a BA in English and a BA in Psychology from the State University of New York, Buffalo. He has also earned Masters Degrees from Syracuse University in English and in Sociology, and from Maxwell School at Syracuse University in the area of Public Administration. Mr. Wolgemuth came to Mt. Everett in 2004. In 2005, the National Endowment for the Humanities sponsored his participation in a seminar entitled "Chaucer's Canterbury Comedies" in Canterbury England. Mr. Wolgemuth holds MA teaching certification in English, Grades 8-12.