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DUBOIS AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT

Senior High School


425 Orient Avenue
DuBois, PA 15801-3299

Phone: 814-371-8111
Fax: 814-371-3928

April 7, 2016
To Whom It May Concern:
I would like to introduce you to Alex Feldbauer, a senior at DuBois Area High School. I have known Alex four
years now through the high school BEST robotics team (for which I am the coach) and through my AP Physics 2 Course.
Through these associations, I can honestly state that Alex one of the most motivated and dedicated students I have ever
met.
At the start of the year, we began organizing for our schools fifth year in the BEST (Boosting Engineering
Science and Technology) Robotics contest. The National BEST organization gives us a task, and we are then to design
and build a robot using the materials they provide. The overall BEST award for the contest is not only based on robot
performance in the game, but also on a marketing presentation, team exhibit, and engineering notebook. Since we only
have six weeks to design, construct, and test our robot, students on the team spend a great deal of time in the physics lab,
and since she has been an integral part of the team, Alex is no exception. Alex has helped in every aspect of the contest,
serving as a spotter for the drivers in the robot game, presenting with the marketing team, building the team exhibit, and
fielding questions from judges as well as the general public during the contest. But her main focus has been the primary
developer and editor for the engineering notebook. The notebook is the most important aspect of the competition, in fact
without it, you cannot even compete in the robot game. The score for the team engineering notebook is thirty percent of
the overall team BEST score, which is the largest portion for any individual category. Alex has taken pictures, complied
sketches from brainstorm sessions, and interviewed the team members who are designing and building to gain an
understanding of why decisions for the design have been made. She has helped to complete calculations that show items
such as motor torque for determining wheel diameter and arm length. She worked with the drivers to determine a game
strategy that would earn our team its maximum points. And at the very end, she organized all of this information to fit the
parameters laid out for the notebook. She has earned our team a first place score in the engineering notebook the past
three years and has been a large portion of why our team has been first at the local hub contest and third at the Northern
Plains Regional Championships in Fargo, North Dakota the past two years. Without her efforts, our team would not have
achieved such high honors. In fact, due to her success, Alex has been asked to present how to create an engineering
notebook to other teams at the local kick off meeting the past two years.
This is the first year that I have actually had Alex as a student in a course, and I can say I have not been
disappointed. She is not afraid to participate in class, is always done with her homework early, and has earned terrific
scores on all assessments. We recently completed a short project at the conclusion of our fluids unit where students were
asked to research, design, and build a rocket out of 2 liter bottles powered by air and water. I could tell Alex was her
teams leader as she gathered materials and gave directions regarding how to build fins, a nosecone, and parachute. Her
efforts and ideas earned her team bonus points for their rockets performance!
At the start of this year, Alex and a friend came to me with the idea to enter the PA Governors STEM contest.
They are both very interested in engineering and want to pursue any extra activity possible to give them experience
towards their future. As a result, we have started a STEM team and competed at the regional level in February. The team
took 1st place and will be moving on to the state level contest in May. This is just another example of Alexs motivation.
Outside of class, Alex is also a member of the girls golf team, the science team, National Honor Society, and works as a
lifeguard for swim meets and open pool times. Alex has been taking college courses through DuBois Penn State campus
for three years already and has maintained Deans List status. With all of these commitments outside of class, Alex has
still maintained the grade point average to earn her A Honor Roll distinction every report card.
I would highly recommend Alex Feldbauer for admittance into an engineering program. I feel Alexs work ethic
and motivation will be an asset to any college community.
Sincerely,

Jennifer L. Keith
Physics Department
DAHS Science Department Head

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