1. lnspiring Excellence o Encouroging Compossion o Creoting Leoders
Administrative Team:
It is my distinct pleasure to recommend Mr. Mikel Ortiz de Lataburu for a position on
your teaching staff. As the Diploma Program Coordinator at the American International
School of Lusaka, I directly collaborated with Mikel on a daily basis and witnessed the
multiple qualities, which make him an outstanding faculty member.
First, Mikel is extremely knowledgeable with the IB program as well as the teaching
requirements for a language acquisition class. As a member of our faculty, he reorganized the
entire department to better reflect progression for students while ensuring students are
appropriately challenged and ultimately prepared for the final DP exams. With Mikel, I was
always ensured he knew the requirements for his course in addition to DP curriculum, policies,
due dates, and best teaching practices.
Additionally, Mikel is well organized, professional, and reliable. When visiting his
classroom, I find on-task students working collaboratively while he guides from the side. His
unit plans and daily lessons are driven on student data and prior assessments; directions and
expectations for students are clear, fair, and focused on DP assessments; and feedback on
student assessments is timely, appropriate, and based upon strategies for improvement. He
has met all deadlines; in fact, even after a serious car accident, he still managed to have his
year 2 students' work ready for uploading prior to the due date. As a member of the DP team,
I can always count on Mikel to be well informed and present. At meetings, he has a voice and
consistently advocates for decisions, which support student learning and achievement.
As the head of department, Mikel was the driving force behind much needed change.
His meetings are organizedand informative for members of staff. He also is open to
suggestions and quite flexible. For example, our grade 1l students were struggling with
research skills; thus, I visited departments in the school and requested that each IB teacher
incorporate a mini-lesson including MLA citations. Under Mikel's leadership, within two
weeks, I received detailed lesson plans from the foreign language department, which
appropriately included citations skills. After lesson delivery, students admitted the cross-
487AlF/3 Leopords Hitt Rd.
P.O. Box 320176
Lusoko, Zombio
Tel: +250 211 260509/10
Fox: +260 211 260538
www.oislusoko.org
ois@oislusoko.org

2. curricular approach was helpful. While other departments were hesitant to include the lessons
or ignored the request, Mikel openly accepted the chance to further students' understandings.
Through this example, Mikel proved his leadership capabilities as well as a strong
collaborative approach to the instruction of the whole child.
Beyond supervising Mikel in a DP classroom, I was also fortunate enough to have my
daughter in his Spanish course. In my grade 9, daughter's words, she has learned more in one
year than all her previous language courses combined. She enjoys his humor and his no-
nonsense approach. Students come to his class to learn, have a few laughs, and do so in a safe,
supervised environment.
You will find Mikel is a teacher who dedicates his time and effort to school
improvement. He is aware of what it takes to run an organization outside of his classroom
door, which allows for a holistic approach towards student achievement and whole school
success.
Mikel's voice and knowledge will be missed at our school; however, in bringing him
onto your team, your organization and students are gaining an excellent faculty member.
Regards,
AISL DP Coordinator