Ryan Sinclair is a middle school teacher at Cardigan Mountain School. He is originally from a small town in Ontario, Kirkland Lake (population under 8,000. according to Wikipedia. On the web, I also learned that Kirkland Lakes is famous for developing hockey players.
Ryan Sinclair
One of his first memories of Rotary, besides his mother being a Rotarian, was playing for the Rotary Hockey Hounds 1982. He shared that his mother, also a teacher, taught him about the importance of service early in his childhood. She would take him and his brother on meal deliveries to elders in their community. In the beginning he remembers it as time to have fights with his brother in the car, but as time went by, both started to look forward to seeing the elders they were helping each week.
He came to Dartmouth in 1988 as an athletic scholar. He came to play hockey. He is a member of the Dartmouth Class of 2002. Ryan had an opportunity to go to Soweto during his senior year. To do this, he would have to leave the hockey team prior to the end of the season. He struggled to make the decision. He shared that he talked to his teammates, and they encouraged him to go to South Africa. This decision was a transformative decision. It set him on a new path upon graduation. He made a decision to become a teacher and started teaching at Cardigan Mountain School. He began dreaming about ways he could help students learn more about the importance of cultural diversity and the importance of travel.
During this time, he had opportunities to meet with John and Katie Manchester. John was a dynamic Hanover Rotarian, and he suggested that Ryan explore applying for a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship. John felt that going to France for graduate education in business would help him find a way to make international trips for students possible. Especially students who may not have the means to take an international trip.
Sinclair was selected to be Rotary District 7850's Ambassadorial Scholar from 2006-2008. He attended that Grenoble Graduate School of Business. His cohort in Grenoble was 130 students and represented 60 different nationality. It provided him an opportunity to appreciate how our national upbringing can influence how we approach education.
As a scholar he had an opportunity to visit Rotary Clubs and has fond memories of these experiences.
While in Grenoble, he found a Muslim School that was nearby. It was a school in need, and he found time to work with the kids playing sports and then he became a volunteer teacher. It was another opportunity for him to serve others.
He returned to the USA, and has continued to teach at Cardigan Mountain School. He stayed true to his commitment to develop a program to support students with minimal resources to travel internationally. He developed IVY Leader and started by taking 8 students to South Africa. Since then the program has grown, though he has slowed down a little as he has two young children at home, so trips in the summer are now down to one rather than two or three.
Ivy Leader stared in 2008 Click here to view a video about the program.
From the IVY Leader Web page:
Ivy Leader is a leadership-development program for students that combine training at Dartmouth College with domestic and international service learning opportunities.
The Ivy Leader Advantage for Students:
- Receive specialized attention with a low student-to-teacher ratio.
- Stand out in interviews and essays during the college admissions process.
- Earn community service hours while becoming a global citizen.
- Make a positive impact on people’s lives by engaging in community-service projects.
- Create meaningful friendships with students from top schools around the country.
IVY Leader believe in…The principle that leadership can be taught, practiced, and learned.
Leadership is an academic discipline that is being taught in all business schools, but has expanded into high school and middle school curricula. Our students will receive lectures from top professors on finding one’s own leadership style, critical thinking, innovation, presentation and public speaking skills, and developing good communication skills. Students will practice these newly acquired tools while working on group projects, volunteering on community service projects, and by participating in leadership activities.
Working in a small group setting.
All programs run in small groups with two student leaders, and three adult trip leaders. In such a small group, students will be able to contribute in lectures, actively participate in leadership activities, and build strong group dynamics. Students are given the opportunity to step out of their comfort zones and get to know each other, and themselves, more intimately than they would in a larger group.
The advantage of learning on an elite college campus.
Having access to Dartmouth’s resources such as professors, alumni, current students, classrooms, dormitories, and dining facilities allows our students to truly experience life at an Ivy League school. This setting allows our student strive for academic excellence, supports independence of thought, and promotes a culture of collaboration.
Ryan position at Cardigan Mountain now includes the following roles:
- Conflict Resolution/Negotiation Teacher
- Director Community Service
- Director Off-Campus and International Programs
- Director Global Community Initiative (Increase Global IQ)
- Coach, Dorm Parent, Advisor
Points that Ryan shared with our RYLArians:
- The path to leadership can begin through service.
- Our RYLA program is a unique program teaching leadership skills that often aren't learned in high school.
- He truly believes that One Profits Most Who Serves Best
- Service is a skill you must learn and practice
- It is important to learn about other cultures, our similarities and differences
- A passion for travel is a good thing to develop and to take advantage of opportunities to travel.
Through and activity call "Think, Pair, Share" we each had moments to reflect with a partner our first memory of Rotary, and trips we have taken that have had an impact on our lives.
I believe we all left with a renewed sense of the importance of service to our community and to the world.