MASTERS ON PECOS
MASTERING PECOS
TENTWORK Rahlson makes a late-night push to complete his final project for his master’s degree.
AFTER COMPLETING A PAPER FOR HIS MASTER’S DEGREE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PECOS MOUNTAINS, SCIENCE INSTRUCTOR LUKAS RAHLSON DETAILS HIS ROCKY JOURNEY TOWARDS SUCCESS.
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tuffed in a small tent, sitting by an even smaller table, he’s cramped. For hours on end, the only thing he hears is the pitter patter of pelting rain interrupted by the mechanical clicking of his keyboard. Middle School science instructor Lukas Rahlson is in a time crunch. That’s because he, too, is a student— and students write papers. Last summer, Rahlson began taking online classes at Vanderbilt to earn a master’s degree in independent school leadership. Focusing on leadership, teaching and school development, the degree meant a life ambition accomplished. “From a young age, it was a goal for me to get a master’s degree,” Rahlson said, “and working over the school year was the only way I could get one without having to leave my position here.” NICK SBERNA Supported Rahlson on the Pecos
And in the fall, he began work on his final project. Rahlson surveyed the school faculty about what it really means to be an excellent teacher. “I had 87 percent of the faculty respond,” Rahlson said. “It’s an incorporation of everything from content mastery to being a good colleague to really embracing the social and emotional learning of boys and properly implementing technology and modern practices.” To complete his final project, Rahlson had to dedicate a lot of his time to his work during the school year. Because he was too busy to fulfill his responsibilities as the co-director of the Wilderness Program, Rahlson realized he couldn’t do it on his own. “It’s amazing how much work goes into [Pecos] that people don’t realize,” Rahlson said. “People think it’s just 130 people show up and go on a trip.”
His friend and colleague, Wilderness Program co-director Nick Sberna, shouldered a lot of Rahlson’s responsibilities and took on tasks that Rahlson would normally do, like hiring leaders and getting new gear. “He really put in a lot of extra time to help me out,” Rahlson said. “I feel very in debt to everyone who supported me through it.” For three years, Sberna and Rahlson have supported each other on the Pecos adventure. Over the past year, Rahlson has shared a lot of what he’s learned with Sberna. “It’s been really fun for me to hear about the program and talk about the issues in the independent school management field,” Sberna said. “When you’re learning about all the different models, you get the natural thoughts of how it could influence St. Mark’s.” When the time came for Rahlson to finish his project, there was a conflict. The project was due on the first Sunday of Pecos. “I had met with the class dean at Vanderbilt, and they were pretty strict on the ‘this is when it’s due, so do it’ policy,” Rahlson said. “So I decided that I could commit, I’d do it. And when you make a decision, you got to get creative IF YOU WANT and really underSOMETHING stand that you can put your mind to it BAD and do it.” ENOUGH, And so he did. YOU WILL He got creative, creFIGURE ativity in which he made the seemingly OUT HOW TO MAKE IT impossible possible. “I basically WORK. brought a laptop — LUKAS out to the car, where RAHLSON I had to finish my project while I was out there,” Rahlson said. “Once it was done, I had to drive into the town of Pecos, plug my phone into my computer and use it as a hotspot for my computer so I could email my paper to my profes-
sor at Vanderbilt.” And when the stress, pressure and rush was all over, he got to celebrate his master’s degree — with a $4 drink. “It might not be the way you imagine,” Rahlson said, “literally celebrating with a DQ milkshake was not how I imagined it would turn out. But I had some great friends there to help me, like Mr. Sberna and the Sullivans [Mark and Sherri], and it was a great experience. I’ll never forget about it.” Proud of Rahlson’s accomplishment, Sberna will help him i future goals. “He now has the 20,000 foot view of how it’s done, and that’s very good for him,” Sberna said. “I’m not an official mentor, but we have a lot of types of conversations about what we plan to do
and how to help each other later.” In the end, Rahlson hopes that every Marksman who goes on the Pecos will share his takeaways, learning to rely on themselves in tough situations. “Pecos is something that obviously you will never forget,” Rahlson said. “You learn things about yourself in that environment that you can’t learn in your comfort zone. Rahlson says he learned about himself while writing in the tent. “I think perseverance and resilience are what the trip really taught me,” he said. “I hope every Marksman who goes on Pecos, by working together in a group and being in an uncomfortable environment and relying on themselves, learns a lesson like that.”
STORY SAHIT DENDEKURI, JASON PENG PHOTOS LUKAS RAHLSON
DADYO opens equality discussions across the Dallas area by Mark Tao
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he Dallas Area Diverse Youth Organization (DADYO) plans to meet with schools across Dallas about various issues affecting today’s world. “What we’re all about is trying to foster cultural understanding between all of the diverse groups of St. Mark’s,” member Andrew Whigham said, “so that means across racial, socioeconomic
levels, as well as a few others.” Over the summer, the DADYO program met at Southern Methodist University for Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson’s seminar, Youth Summit and Diversity Dialogue. “We covered three topics,” Whigham said, “the importance of pluralism in education, refugees and their importance to society, and it was about being allies to members of the LGBT community. Those were our three main seminar groups.” Following this seminar, the club plans to maintain its connection to other schools by
meeting on a monthly basis. “When we have our bigger DADYO meetings,” Whigham said, “which include the other private schools, we talk about broader topics, and we then present a little bit as well there. They happen on a monthly basis, and for each meeting it’s a different context.” For many schools, DADYO encourages student discussion about issues affecting the world. “The objective is to inspire [the schools] to increase their self-awareness and adopt solutions to provoke mutual understanding within their community,” DADYO sponsor Marjorie Curry said. “It’s supposed to be like an academic torch that each student can take back to their home school community.” DADYO encourages growth and maturity not only among school communities but for individual students as well. For Whigham, DADYO helped him develop a more receptive, open-minded and mature mindset. “For me,” Whigham said, “DADYO
really helped me grow as a person. I developed a deeper appreciation for who I am and the others around me, their cultures, their religion, their preferences, their orientation and identifications of all types. Being exposed to different types of people, I developed a greater sense of what I am and what my personality is.” Curry also expressed a similar manner of appreciation for the program and the way in which it encourages students to discuss important topics. “It has been rewarding both personally and professionally,” Curry said. “I do believe that it’s important for people to be able to discuss topics of diversity, equality and inclusion.” Curry ultimately believes the program fosters in students the same form of leadership and character the school tries to create. “DADYO complements the character and leadership work that is important at St. Mark’s,” Curry said. “As a group that promotes equity and inclusion, DADYO is open to everyone.”
LIFE