Gonzalo Garza Independence High

School
November 27, 2018 “Be the Change you wish to see in the world”
To Whom It May Concern: Mahatma Gandhi

It is with great honor and pleasure that I write this letter of recommendation for a student of mine,
Olivia Krug. Olivia has been enrolled at Garza Independence High School since November 2017 and
has worked fastidiously to receive her course credits and graduate one semester early. Our curriculum
at Garza Independence High School is completely self-paced. This means that students are responsible
for meeting the curriculum requirements of each course.

I was lucky enough to have Olivia in both my Physics and honors Forensics course. Her work was
exemplary and she received all A’s. In physics, Olivia was able to traverse the curriculum
independently. She rarely needed any assistance and I made her a peer tutor for one of my struggling
students. For her final in Forensics, Olivia staged a murder mystery for my other forensics students to
solve. She brought in a mannequin, gave her a backstory by holding a photo shoot with other students,
writing both a narrative about the backstory and interviews with witnesses, staging the crime, and
flagging all the evidence. She also wrote up the worksheet for my students to document their findings,
solve the crime, and come up with a backstory to what actually happened the night of the murder by
piecing together their findings.

Olivia is also very involved in extracurricular activities on campus. She is a member of the
Principal’s Student Advisory Cabinet (PSAC), which is a group of students that is elected by peers and
faculty. The group meets to plan school-wide activities and provide input to the principal about
improvements that the student body would like Garza to pursue. The PSAC students were also in
charge of delivering bi-weekly lessons to our Ujamaa, which is our student advisory period. These
lessons consist of money planning for after graduation, applying to colleges, and social emotional
learning.

I highly recommend Olivia for anything she may pursue. She is driven, hard-working, disciplined,
and humorous. As her science teacher, I am so thrilled that she wants to pursue a career in science and
has a plan to be one of the best dermatologists. Please do not hesitate to contact me for any further
information you might need.

Sincerely,

Nicole Howard
Garza Independence High School Physics Facilitator
nicole.howard@austinisd.org

AUSTIN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT

1600 Chicon Street, Austin, TX. 78702 ♦ Phone: 512-414-8600 ♦ Fax: 512-414-8610