A

California Distinguished School

Alexander Bennett, Principal
Crystal Brownlee, Assistant Principal
Oscar Felix, Assistant Principal

Brad Hamby, Assistant Principal
Kevin Thompson, Ed.D, Assistant Principal
Michele Diekelman, Ph.D., TOSA

http://echs.oside.us

400 Rancho Del Oro Drive

Oceanside, CA 92057
Phone: (760) 901-8000
Fax: (760) 757-5321

February 12, 2015

To Whom It May Concern:
It is my absolute pleasure and honor to write to you today on behalf of Susan Alejandre. I could write volumes
on the many reasons why you should have no reservations whatsoever about hiring Susan to work in your
district. She is, by far, one of the most remarkable young women Ive ever had the honor to know.
Susans talents and characteristics had a chance to shine when she worked as an AVID tutor for the four years
she attended CSUSM, and for a little over a year when she was in graduate school at SDSU. For over four of
those years I was her supervisor. She was an outstanding employee. She was never anything less than reliable,
responsible, motivated, compassionate, and caring when it came to her job responsibilities and to working with
the AVID students. As a former AVID student herself, she went above and beyond her job description because
she took each students individual academic and personal challenges to heart. She counseled students and held
study groups at lunch, helped students with their college applications and FAFSA, and became a trusted mentor
to many in our program. She was my go-to person when I needed anything: someone to coordinate the AVID
tutors schedule, someone to help with honor rollyou name it, Susan could do it. Her ideas for AVID projects
were often better than my own! When Susan left AVID to focus on her graduate work it was a huge loss for
staff and students alike. Quite frankly, our current tutoring staff lacks the leadership and cohesiveness it had
when Susan was here. Students still ask about Susan on a regular basis, and are thrilled to see her when she
comes by to visit.
Last school year Susan worked very closely with one particular AVID student who was also a foster youth.
Susan helped the student to have direct connections with foster youth advocates and resources at both SDSU
and CSUSM, including ACE Scholars (CSUSM) and SDSU Guardian Scholars. She educated the student about
the Chafee Grant and extended foster care. Seeing Susan and this student work together was not the first time I
had witnessed first-hand the incredible difference Susan can make in someones life. Shes gone above and
beyond with many AVID students when theres been a particular need.
Susans work with foster youth is not limited to the experience Ive described above. Over the past two years, as
a part of the ScholarCARES Grant at SDSU, she has participated in seminars, been a Court Appointed Special
Advocate (CASA), and focused her trainings and research on culturally and linguistically diverse foster youth
with disabilities. As a CASA, Susan advocated for foster youth in court and made recommendations on parent
reunification or termination of rights, she supported her foster youth in his school, his foster home, and in court,
and she collaborated with the principal, teacher, speech pathologist, school psychologist, social worker and
nurse at her charges school to ensure that his educational needs were met.
Susan best demonstrates her maturity, stability, and resilience through her volunteer work. I have yet to meet a
college student who has been so involved in organizations committed to helping others. She has been a tireless
advocate for civil and human rights for undocumented workers, and was selected to fly to Sacramento for the

day to speak to Senator Kehoe and Assembly Member Hueso in support of AB 1236, a bill to keep E-Verify out
of California. She has counseled rape victims through her work at the Womens Resource Center, and has
volunteered to assist day laborers with filing Small Claims Court petitions against employers for wage theft.
Susans resilience was especially tested through her work with at-risk students in the Tariq Khamisa Foundation
Americorps program, where she worked with at-risk middle school students not only to help them succeed
academically, but with family, social, and discipline issues as well. A person has to be mature, stable, resilient,
and have tremendous strength of character to work so tirelessly and diligently on behalf of others. Susan is one
of those people. Her variety of work and volunteer experiences also serve to demonstrate her ability to build
relationships and work competently with people from diverse backgrounds.
Susan is someone who could be placed in any situation and make it, and the people involved, better. She has
tremendous potential to impact students and staff positively, and will contribute greatly to your school
community. She gives careful and educated consideration to issues relevant to education and student success.
I hope that I will one day have the privilege of being Susans colleague. I have absolutely no reservations
whatsoever recommending her to you. I cannot think of one area of concern that I should point out to you. Most
importantly, I sincerely hope that I have done Susan justice in this letter to you. Youll know the minute you
meet her that she is everything Ive said and more, and that a simple letter of recommendation (one from me, at
least) could never completely describe how much she shines. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have
further questions about any aspect of Susans character or work ethic. My personal cell phone number is listed
below.
Sincerely,
Liz Wing
AVID Site Coordinator and AVID Elective Teacher
liz.wing@oside.k12.ca.us
760.707.7926