ULEAD’S INSPIRING STORY
SIT-DOWN WITH IECA’S MARK SKLAROW
PLAN A TRIP TO THE SOUTH POLE!
MEET MEET TWO TWO AMAZING ARTISTS! AMAZING ARTISTS!
ENVISIONING A GLOBAL ENVISIONING GLOBAL CONNECTIVITY PROGRAM CONNECTIVITY PROGRAM
Meet the Team
Founder/CEO/President/Publisher Dartmouth Associates and ROR Magazine, A Division of Schenck Enterprises Corporation Tom founded Schenck Enterprises Corporation in 2020 and created Dartmouth Associates as a global consulting, training and promotional company that empowers independent schools and colleges. Other than issuing the ROR Magazine, the first of its kind lifestyle publication for Admissions Professionals, there are plenty of well-established offerings by the company. Our flagship product is ROR, The Results Oriented Recruiting System™, the world’s first sales Training Curriculum curated exclusively for Admission Professionals. We also develop national technology summits and promotional podcasts, giving key admissions leaders precious airtime. Additionally, Tom has pioneered the concept of “Dynamic Brand Enthusiasm” that introduces best-in class vendors to schools and colleges. For 25 years, previously, Thomas held leadership positions such as Head of School, and Director of Admissions, Development, and Placement. He was a also founding trustee for Sisu Academy, a tuition-free school that promoted entrepreneurship to underprivileged students. He established Villain Crusher Marketing helping early-stage entrepreneurs find venture capital. While providing his various services, Thomas attained Presidents Club status and the top 1% national sales position for Yellow Book Media. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from San Diego State University and a master’s degree in Utopian Philosophy from Dartmouth College. As the first actor to portray Spider-Man for Marvel Comics in New York City, he has highly developed skills for vanquishing evil!
Rhodora O CHIEF EDITOR & ART DIRECTOR
M.Sc. in Psychology, Rhodora was in the middle of postgraduate studies in Educational Psychology, when she had to settle for a freelance career for the sake of her children and family. She writes short stories, poetry, screenplays and essays exploring the interface of technology and society. As a POC, at-home mom, Rhodora envisions the ROR Magazine as a springboard for highlighting challenges, obstacles and achievements of independent schools admission professionals, while creating a flagship reading mix of lifestyle and culture.
Vice President and Artistic Director for World Branding He supervises all critical brand visual and content aesthetics for both ROR Publications as well as the universe of Schenck Enterprises including Dartmouth Associates Family of Services, such as ROR Training, ROR Consulting and ROR Promotions. He also reviews and stabilizes the aesthetic consistency of websites, social media, and all collateral promotional campaigns. A New York trained artist and entrepreneur, he has contributed his talents to a broad range of creative and business endeavors including The Aware Wolf Collective, a branding and promotional agency, as well as developing a motivational and fitness system that promotes the All I Know Is Go training system.
A digital marketing expert, Chiranjeev oversees all areas of Schenck Enterprises global technology, strategy, marketing campaigns, product development, including product management, UX design and engineering. He brings extensive experience in building direct to consumer platforms and associated products and services for the digital economy.
Director of Global Media and Outreach Trey manages the production of the ROR Magazine aligned podcast, the Admissions Entrepreneur, A Day in the Life, across all audio and visual platforms. He has created a ground-breaking podcasting system allowing our admission professionals to be featured in sound and print around the world. Previously he founded Hype Music Network in 2013 with the start of his first podcast “The G-List Show.” Trey set out to give musicians and up & coming creatives and entrepreneurs an opportunity to share their talent globally, all the while creating high-quality content.
CHIEF PRODUCT AND TECHNOLOGY OFFICER Previously, his company, Dutt Media, designed dynamic marketing campaigns, consistently increasing client online revenue. He holds a BBA and MBA in Marketing and Finance.
DAVID MCBREARTY
is a historical researcher, palaeographer and author who has taught early modern history and manuscript studies at third level. He has published widely and edited early modern manuscript material for publication for several academic presses and government bodies. His interests largely lie in modern European and American history, with an emphasis on state structures and political theory. He is based in Ireland.
IAN CRAIG Head | Rumsey Hall
Before Rumsey Hall, Ian has headed two other independent schools and been interim head at a third. He has M.A. in Secondary Social Studies Education.
DEAN J. FUSTO Head | Brandon Hall
With a career in education spanning three decades, Fusto has founded Teach.Learn.Lead as a connecting network for teachers everywhere. As the head of his school, he also started the Center for Global Youth Leadership.
CHRISTINA WANG Founder | ULEAD
After many years of experience as an international education program coordinator, Wang founded her own company where she integrates her personal philosophy for supporting students inspired by her own daughter.
BETHANY DI NAPOLI Executive Director |ISCA
Bethany has served as Executive Director of ISCA since August of 2017 and has had the pleasure of connecting ISCA members with experts in respective disciplines. Her previous experience includes working at the Rhodes Island Department of Health with her education in public health and nutrition.
RACHEAL KARIUKI is a dedicated scientists graduated from University of Nairobi. Besides research work, She has authored and contributed to various publications. She specializes in the field of health, mental health and psychology.
RONIT NATH has been working as a website developer and content writer for over a period of three years. He currently has an in house team of about 50 people working under the same roof. He has a masters in English Literature from Calcutta University.
Amanda Brown is a mom, lifestyle writer and poet. She is also finalizing a poetry collection for publication. She maintains a blog on health and wellness at www.liminalwellness.com.
Serban Sorin Decebal is a Professional Content Writer with extensive experience of almost ten years in providing high-quality article writing services. He loves to play with words, and he puts all his passion and hard work into creating original content.
V. A. Luna was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to a working class family. He relocated to the United States in his early twenties, and his work as a writer has taken him to every continent, following their peoples and stories. FInd him on Twitter as @LordVictorLobos.
Biya Noor is a Freelance Writer from Pakistan who has just started and hoping for a long and viable career.
Freddy Rincon works hard as a full time welder and still finds the time to spend with his family everyday and then work away the late hours creating his next artistic masterpiece. He shares his work on Behance and https://frincon.myportfolio.com/
Ädiana Ross is an american author, performance artist, humanitarian and wellness coach. She has assisted thousands of people throughout the world in transforming their lives, discovering their life’s purpose and activating their greatness. Her latest book “The Burning Mirror” can be found on Amazon. Her work irrefutably inspires the limitless potential of all who engage. Get in touch with her at https://www.adianaross.com/
P. Stormcrow is an award-winning author who writes paranormal and contemporary romances with high heat and often with sprinklings of power dynamics. Born in Hong Kong and raised in Canada, she enjoys writing about both cultures. Find out more about her work at https://pstormcrow.com/
In this
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PROFILE Interview with Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA By Thomas Schenck
LEADERSHIP FEATURE A Global Connectivity Program for Teenagers
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By Bethany Di Napoli
41 GLOBAL PANDEMIC FEATURE Rallying to the Cause: Private schools in Kenya and India.
EDUCATION FEATURE Why the K-9 Model Works By Ian Craig
112
HISTORY FEATURE History of Independent Schooling in America
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By Racheal Kariuiki and Ronit Nath.
75 CURRICULUM FEATURE Pandemic Pivoting & the Arts By The Bolles School
By David McBrearty
issue...
Features.
LIFESTYLE GUIDES Hemp Milk By Serban Sorin
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Homemade Potpourri
TRAVEL GUIDE A Hop to the South Pole
By Rhodora O
115 142
By Colin Napier
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CULTURE FEATURE Celebrating the Season: October, November By Biya Noor
ART PROFILE Elena Kotliarker: Creating Wonderlands full of Color & Meaning
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By Rhodora O
WELLNESS FEATURE Becoming Untangled: 133 Remaining Spiritually Sound in a Shifting Era By Ȁdiana Ross
October Gold, 1922. By Franklin Carmichael (1890-1945)
ROR INTRODUCTION ULEAD Education Consultancy
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20
ROR MUSIC
Classical Music: Chopin’s Nocturne Op. No. 9
22Contemporary Music:
“Blue Weekend” by Wolf Alice
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Departments 96
ROR STORY Underground Men By V. C. Luna
ROR SCREEN ROR INSPIRES Freddy Rincon’s Routines for Success
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REVIEW: The Green Knight by Joel Coen REVIEW: Summer of Soul by Questlove
63 ROR BOOKSHELF Who is Maud Dixon by Alexandra Andrews The New Climate War by Michael E. Mann
ROR POET Hunger By Amanda Brown
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ROR RECIPE Teriyaki Chicken Casserole
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Cascade Academy
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ROR PROFILES A Family Affair: Introducing Admissions Professionals everywhere
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ROR SCOOP Independent Schools News Spotlight
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ROR SCHOOL Dean J. Fusto on Partnerships as a Marketing Strategy
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150
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The Gow School
ROR BUZZ A Foodie’s Love Letter to Vancouver By P. Stormcrow
ROR HAPPENINGS Key Upcoming Events for Admissions Professionals
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A LIFELONG PASSION TO DO RIGHT BY EVERY STUDENT Interviewed by Thomas Schenck
The Artist Who Escaped Gangster Life to Create AwardWinning Art
I
35 was born in Los Angeles on the east side. Without a father, my family moved around a lot including my mother and brothers. Around the time I was 14, we moved to Omaha Nebraska. It was 1999. Soon, we were very surprised to discover how deeply ingrained gangster life was in Omaha. Gangs were well-established and it was hard to avoid them entirely. Even today there are thousands of gang members, part of more than eighty different gang groups across the city. I was Mexican, we were poor, and my mother was a single-parent. All we had was those poverty-stricken areas of the city, rife with gangster lifestyle. When you have such a background, like they say, you are destined to go that way. However, at that young age, I knew I did not want to be dragged into it. That’s why, from the beginning, I and my brothers indulged in graffiti art. In the early days, we used to go into abandoned buildings and paint on the walls. We loved hip-hop and, for a time, we felt secure in it. We naively thought we would remain clear of the gangster culture around us. But when you are stuck in such a place, in the end you have to do what they tell you to do. And if you still insist on sticking to your own ways, you deal with the consequences. And that’s what happened to us as well. When I was about 17 or 18, they came and shot up our house. My brother was sleeping in the living room just on the other side of the window. Thankfully, no one was hurt. When we went outside to check, there were about eight holes in our front wall. From that day on, we realized how serious it was trying to pretend the gang life was not for us. So while we became ‘friends’ with those guys and let ourselves get dragged into it at night, I still kept following my dreams in daylight. I enrolled in college and chose graphic design as my major. My frist art professor was a great teacher and I enjoyed the techniques he was teaching us. He encouraged me to study art when he noticed I had a will to learn as much as I could. He emphasized that I needed to keep at it at all costs because I could have a future in it. He turned out to be right.
Painting started changing my life. I met the love of my life, married, and had a son. There were many things that kept pushing me to make the big decision and escape the gangster culture for good. I had been heading that way for years not by actions but in my head. My family depended on me and made me feel responsible. The nightlife gets old. Your mind is never clear. You never feel free. You always need to have a gun at the ready. I got a job as a welder and stuck to my art in the nights. Looking back at things, when I was running the street, I used to think I drew energy from that, like it gave me inspiration for the art. But at the same time it was a constant source of stress. As a gang member, you are always tense. And if your house has already been shot, it means you have enemies and you are constantly carrying all this anger around. The stress is relentless. I have never been in a war overseas but I bet soldiers must carry a similar feeling with them. The constant stress actually makes it harder to focus on the art when you are active in the gang. When I left that craziness behind, then I was able to draw from it. I still have friends and family living that life. It’s what some want and it’s what some can’t escape; guns, meth, crime and all that. I don’t judge anyone living that way as I have been there. It’s just not what I wanted anymore. I was blessed to have found love and support to keep me on the right track, but every day is a struggle, a battle where you must make good choices to the best of your ability. I still keep my guard up but not the same way, I keep it up for my family to make sure they are safe and happy. That’s what I do one day at a time, not just being alive but enjoying life... really living it. By 2010s, I had three kids, and I was working 50 hours a week. All my free time I was spending either with my family or on my art. We’ll go to parks, we’ll hang out as a family. We’ll talk, we’ll have dinner. So we put them to bed around nine o’clock. Then I can start painting. Lately it was hard, and I knew it was falling behind. I’ll come home and I’ll be tired. Sometimes I’ll be painting
“COVID-19 School Closures” Graph created at Wikipedia Commons, and updated with latest data from UNESCO.
Full School Closures Partial School Closures Academic Break Online Learning No School Closures No Data
is like a shockwave that still reverberates in the schools around the world. As of September 2021, World Bank data tells us that the global share of private education at both the primary and secondary levels is more than 27%. To get in touch with schools out there, we found two writers, who altogether visited four private schools, two each in India and Kenya. The discussion focused on the financial struggles of the schools since the start of the pandemic in their countries. The takeaway from these reports is that the continued operating success of the school has directly depended on how resourceful they already were before the pandemic. Urban locations seem to have fared better with school leaders focusing on the technological challenges faced by the hybrid-format education. Orphanage schools, however, found their essential support severely cut off and needing to turn away students, for lack of resources.
Children walk to school in their uniforms in India.. All photos in this piece: Wikimedia Commons
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ROR TRAVEL GUIDE
CREATE THE MEMORIES OF A
WITH A HOP TO THE
COLIN NAPIER, the GM of a travel company in South Africa brings us a unique travel guide. Details Inside. Spread: Stock Photo All other photos are by White Desert, provided by the author.
Credit for profiles: Schools’ website,s and occasionally, professional bios on social media profiles.
58 Prior to Holderness, Erin was Associate Director of Admission at the Salter School and an admissions manager at Strayer University. She has also served as an advertising account executive at the Orlando Sentinel. She holds a B.B.A from Strayer University.
Erin Morales, Associate Director of International Admission, Holderness School
Erin brings an extra eye for detail and a keen sense of humor to the Admission team. She lives with her family on Stinson Lake in Rumney and is an avid mountain biker and windsurfer. In her spare time Erin also teaches stand–up paddleboard yoga—a sport which, she claims, is easy to master.
People who work in the admissions world are special individuals and we are delighted to introduce you to some of your colleagues. Reach out to them as we can all learn from each other!
Aaron joined the Harvard-Westlake community in 2018. Originally from New York City, Aaron earned his B.A. in History from Williams College and his M.S.Ed. in Independent School Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.
Aaron Mieszczański, Head of Admission and Enrollment, Harvard-Westlake School
Prior to Harvard-Westlake, he spent five years as the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at San Francisco University High School and five years as the Senior Associate Director of Admission and Coordinator of Multicultural Outreach at the Thacher School. Aaron currently serves on the board of trustees for the Educational Records Bureau, and is a founding board member for the Los Angeles Administrators of Color in Independent Schools group. He is also a founding board member of Private School Axis, and is a member of the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship selection committee. He has previously served on the Enrollment Management Association’s Admission Leadership Council.
P
eople all over the world celebrate November and December in their own ways. Some traditions are countries old, and some as modern as a fun way to campaign against prostate cancer. While it’s become customary to link these months to the colors of fall, autumn actually only visits the Northern hemisphere at this time of the year. The tropical areas around the equator don’t even get fall in it’s full glory, while the Southern Hemisphere largely welcomes spring at this time. Finally, some celebrations fall on different months every year if they follow the lunar calendar.
“In the Ramapo Valley.” 1881, by Jasper Cropsey (1823-1900)
By Biya Noor
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To celebrate these months in a truly global sense, we bring you customs and festivals from around the world. Some are food festivals, celebrating seasonal harvests, some
stem from ancient folklore or history. Needless to say, all are celebrated in their unique fashions, speaking to the vibrant tapestry of different peoples and nations on earth.
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by B E T H A N Y D I N A P O L I -I S C A
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Q&A by RhodoraO