World beyond the Storm King mountain

The Future

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BOOK 3 of 3

The Storm King School

Leaving Home Leaving the comfort and familiarity of home is an exciting prospect, but it can also be intimidating or downright scary. For some of our students, the boarding experience is their first long-term stay away from home (perhaps with the exception of a week or two at sleep-away camp). Everything changes – meals, living situations, after-school activities, even alone time – and students are compelled to learn new ways of doing things. It’s a lot!

Fortunately, no student ever has to go it alone. By living and learning in a community, students often learn together with help from new friends and upperclassmen. Equally important, students have round-the-clock access to adults if they have a question or need a little guidance. Every dormitory is home to several faculty members and their families. In time—and usually pretty quickly!—students are able to create a surrogate family here on campus.

Entering a new living situation and meeting new people also requires students to consider the intricacies of relationship building. This time away from home allows students the space they need to discover who they are and, perhaps, to ponder who they want to be.

Becoming Independent By leaving the ease and comfort of home, students learn self-reliance.

It’s inevitable. When a student shares a dorm room, or does his or her own laundry, wakes up on time and meets deadlines for assignments and projects, such tasks quickly become routine. In figuring out simple day-to-day tasks, students are actually developing effective time-management practices, good study habits and the interpersonal skills they need to be successful in the 21st century global community.

When students take steps towards independence, they are learning to determine the direction of their own life’s journey while also becoming adaptable, creative thinkers. They become responsible for their actions, accepting both the consequences and the rewards. From Day One, we encourage our students to be inquisitive life-long learners and problem solvers. Most importantly, they are taught how to be independent thinkers capable of making a real difference in the world.

Faculty Guidance By figuring out the right balance of challenge and support, the SKS community empowers young people to take risks and dream big. A tiered approach guides our faculty, staff and administration. Based on constant assessment of each student’s needs, the adults on campus align their efforts to engender real positive change. Our goal is to have graduates leave the Mountain feeling a great sense of achievement.

Strong role-modeling, individualized attention and an ethic of care guide each interaction with students. The faculty and administration are always happy to offer advice in response to student inquiries, but more often than not they encourage and challenge students to discover their own paths and figure out their own solutions.

Where Do You Fit In This World?

The Association of American Colleges & Universities identified Diversity and Global Learning as one of ten High-Impact Learning Practices that increase student engagement. The Storm King School’s international community surrounds students with varying cultural perspectives. Students learn about the intricacies of the 21st century global community. Classroom discussions and projects challenge students to understand the complexities that varying social, political, cultural and economic viewpoints create in our highly connected world. The Storm King School provides an immersion experience that prepares graduates to navigate successfully in today’s world.

Through leadership opportunities on campus and beyond, students learn that leading is much more than being in front or speaking the loudest. Participating in Model UN, international service expeditions and yearly global summits, SKS students encounter the world’s most pressing challenges head on. Through these experiences, students create networks, become versed in intercultural coalitionbuilding, learn adaptability and tackle the immediacy of global problems.

How Big Can You Dream?

Through our commitment to empowering students by emphasizing the core values of Truth, Respect and Responsibility, The Storm King School makes the seemingly impossible possible. Storm King’s students are an active part of the Hudson Valley’s legacy. On the side of Storm King Mountain overlooking the majestic Hudson River, students seek inspiration and an understanding of what will sustain them from within. All students are challenged to find that combination of practicality and whimsy that will propel them to become their best possible selves.

At SKS, students are allowed to plant the seeds of as many dreams as they would like. They are taught that only nurtured seeds develop strong roots to persevere and thrive. Through this process of experimentation, skills are learned and dreams are cultivated.

What Can You Contribute?

SKS students learn that each and every one of us must contribute to creating a better future. Support of local and global efforts to protect the environment, fight for social justice, and educate for a better future have been a part of SKS since its inception. Our efforts span from courtrooms to rainforests, classrooms to blighted neighborhoods and sports fields to the halls of power all over the world. The SKS community works to make the world a better place.

By learning and embracing our three core values, students quickly learn that inaction and complacency are no longer options. By making service an integral and important part of our curriculum, students graduate from SKS knowing that each contribution matters. They get to see the immediate results of their service and create connections that provide a never-ending impetus to act.

Who Will You Become?

Your time at The Storm King School will train you to seek the truth and the highest standards of integrity, while trying to push others toward the same level of excellence.

According everyone and everything its due respect will open doors and foster relationships that will lead to fulfilling and meaningful life experiences.

Your connection to The Storm King School will be a constant reminder that the responsibility for a better tomorrow depends on each one of us.

The experiences and relationships at SKS will continue to hold you accountable to be your best self by honoring the core values of Truth, Respect and Responsibility.

As an alumnus of The Storm King School, you will be joining a distinguished group of global citizens that believe in the inherent potential of every human being. And more importantly, you will know how to harness that potential in yourselves and others.

What Kind Of Life Will You Lead?

I left Iran for The Storm King School, not knowing that a major revolution was about to occur, and the staff and students at SKS, combined with the majesty and peacefulness of the mountain, provided a safe place to think, to grow and to plan my future.

— Dr. Massoud Amin ’79, Director of the University of Minnesota’s Technological Leadership Institute and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

When students arrive at The Storm King School at the age of 13 or 14, they usually don’t know what it is they want to “do” with their lives. They quickly learn that the possibilities truly are endless and their SKS teachers and advisors are available to help them develop their dreams and to begin their journeys to achieve those dreams.

I was the first female wrestler at SKS….Wrestling did wonders for my self-esteem and empowered me to feel like I could do anything. Much of this was due in part to the wonderful SKS coach I had that encouraged and inspired me.

In The Storm King School’s nearly 150 years, our thousands of graduates—

— Cara Castronuova ’98, Television Personality and Fitness Professional/ President, Fighter Fitness

students from all backgrounds, from all over the world—have gone on to become

Corporation/ Executive Director, Knockout Obesity, Inc.

everything from architects to attorneys, writers to artists, marine biologists to astronomers (and in one case, both), doctors to hedge-fund managers, priests to professional skiers—all of them, dreamers.

At SKS, our teachers were focused on the students and we all felt that they really cared if we learned and achieved….I met kids from such different walks of life, experiencing diversity that I would never have been exposed to if I had stayed in public school. This exposure has been a benefit in both my life and work.

— Renee Cusack ’74, Environmental Lab Director, EnviroTest Laboratories, Inc.

SKS helped to foster my interest in international affairs. The professors always challenged us to be independent thinkers and nurtured our inquisitive side. I am a beneficiary of the academic freedom that SKS professors enjoyed that allowed them to not shy away from subject matter that could prove to be controversial.

— Tyresse Horne ’85, Lawyer

Butterfly Ceremony

314 Mountain Road, Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY 12520 The Admissions Office

845.458.7542 or 845.458.7510 admissions@sks.org

www.sks.org