Ava Priest is an outstanding student. I have had the pleasure to have her as a student in two of my Japanese classes. Two years ago, she was in my Japanese 1 class at Casey Middle School, and this year she is in my Japanese 3 class at Boulder High School. Ava has consistently earned A’s on just about every assignment, and she seems to thrive on the challenges presented by a language like Japanese. In Japanese 1, Ava quickly mastered the 96 phonetic characters in the hiragana and katakana syllabaries. She can read and write these characters with ease. in addition, she has continued to make inroads to learning the thousands of Chinese characters (kanji) that are also used in Japanese. Ava has an exceptional ear for the language and does very well on written and spoken assignments as well.

Socially, Ava is a respectful, friendly young adult who works well with her classmates. She does an excellent job advocating for herself when needed. For example, when she misses a class due to a soccer tournament, she always contacts me to get the work she missed and to ask any questions that she has about the material. Without fail, she turn in the work she missed shortly after returning to class.

Ava is a well grounded student who excels both inside and outside the classroom. The sky’s the limit with her! Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Michael Kleinkopf, Ph.D.
Boulder High School
Japanese Teacher

I am pleased to recommend Ava Priest for enrollment in your institution. I have come to know Ava through my World History class, which she took as a sophomore last year. She is an extremely hard-working and responsible student and I think she will be an asset to your team and academic institution.  World History is a rigorous course due to the amount of material covered in a relatively short amount of time.  Ava diligently plugged through the course, producing work that was very detailed and way above expectations for a regular level history class.  She did this with quiet persistence and never missed a deadline, even when she was out for multiple soccer tournaments and family travel.  Ava particularly stood out in our long-term project for National History Day.  She worked hard every week and spent extra time outside of class perfecting her excellent written and visual presentation on the Black Panthers. The judges were very impressed with her work and she was close to being chosen as a finalist for the regional competition.  In the classroom, Ava would typically sit quietly in the middle of the crowd, but she would always come through if asked a question directly. She became increasingly confident as she presented explanations of historical processes in a professional and academic manner that was very clear and easy for her classmates to understand. She challenged herself in this class and I saw exponential growth over the year as her answers and analysis became more focused. Her class grades were always above average, and her hard work and persistence was further rewarded with an A every semester in World History. She was a joy to teach and I was quite honored that she came back to ask me for a recommendation.  Ava has the work ethic to do well in any college setting. She strives to improve on her already excellent study habits and knows how to work hard to accomplish her goals.  She will be a great asset to your team and institution and a good role model for other students. If you have any questions regarding her candidacy, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Roberta Spray
Boulder High School
Social Studies Teacher