Photo Credit: Kendall Songer

AVP Karl Losekoot (above) goes through several drafts of letters before choosing one to send off to a college.

On top of grading hundreds of essays, papers, and projects, many teachers are forced to bear the encumbrance of recommendation letters.

Writing recommendations is no easy task. The number of recommendations a teacher writes per year can easily get out of hand.  “Sometimes you have a student for a couple of classes and you feel almost obligated to write them a rec as their teacher… even if they’ve been up and down in your class,” says history teacher Ben Wellington. Wellington is now wrapping up over 20 recommendations for students graduating this year.

In addition, these recommendations are time-consuming. According to Wellington a recommendation can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Like the college essay editing process that seniors go through, many teachers writing their recommendations even go to college counselor Alice Kleeman for edits and advice.

“It’s not my favorite thing to do. You kind of feel like you’re doing last year’s work when you have current work to do,” says Vice Principal Karl Losekoot. “It feels outdated and it’s a bit annoying.” This year Losekoot, like Wellington, wrote recommendations for over 20 students.

However, there are some positives to the recommendation-writing experience. “I do enjoy learning about the students through the process. In many cases I have been inspired by what students do… Some of the accomplishments are pretty incredible,” acknowledged Wellington.

But in the end, after hours of thought, scrawling, and editing these teachers are able to produce a 2 to 3 page essay about a student they taught months ago. And for this, it is appropriate to shower them with gifts and baked goods.

Senior Diane Masket feels obligated to repay these teachers for the time they’ve put into her college application experience. She also plans to keep them updated on college acceptances. “It seems like the right thing to do considering they took the time and energy to write my recs,” says Masket. In addition to the Christmas presents she’s already given and her regular visits, Masket plans to give both of her teachers letters and gifts at the end of the year.

But there are many seniors who aren’t as on-the-ball as Diane. Senior Jack Beckwith has yet to thank his teachers, but plans to do so when he hears back from and commits to a university. Beckwith will probably bring them each “cakes as a small token of gratitude.” He also intends to write a letter to each of his teachers about how they’ve influenced his life.

To those looking to ask for letters of recommendation, both Wellington and Losekoot remarked that the best time to ask is during the early spring of junior year. Wellington says that some students have asked him as early as the fall semester of junior year.

In terms of what these teachers are looking for, Losekoot says, “You really have to engage with the student on some level. The more specifics you know about a student the easier it is to write a rec for them… I can write a good rec for someone who’s quiet versus someone who’s vocal.” He noted that if the student shows any sign of improvement or engagement over the course of a year that is warrant enough for a recommendation. “I look at who that student was in my class and the way that I know them.”