To whom it may concern:
I recommend Mr. Carlton Rounds whole-heartedly and without reservation. He will bring honor to his work. He will encapsulate the students with care and attention. He will create and access broad avenues of experience in the lives of the children and parents around him where once stood tollbooths and barricades. And here is how I know this.
I have known Carlton for more than 10 years now. Having met him while teaching at Marist College Upward Bound, I was his teaching assistant and soon became an eager student. He has been an advisor of mine from my teens to my work here at the museum. Carlton displays the most artful, creative, and probing skills with working with at risk and underserved youth—as we did. I remember one session having to do with paying for college wherein; 1) he created an atmosphere of interest with students who might otherwise not think deeply about financial aid, 2) listened intently to the myriad of concerns that fell the gamut from students who were concerned because they were a major financial provider in the family to students who did not know what a FASFA was 3) Distilled each concern into a detailed step-by-step plan affording college and not just your local state university but any college! After Carlton explained the affordable college plan each student asked engaging and focused questions that mirrored his intended message and were attentive to the specifics that Carlton put forth. Over the semester I witnessed Carlton’s students, who all summer had only regarded their presence in the program as an alternative to being outside in the heat, become of community of individuals who shared experiences, goals, and trust in a trustworthy mentor—Carlton.
Many students in that classroom went on to continue to develop relationships with Carlton, at their own pace and instigation. The result of the precious moments of support and guidance that Carlton offered was multifaceted. Some students attended the International Scholar Athlete Games and others entered prestigious institutions like Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Howard University, Vassar College, Bard College, and Pratt Institute, as well as local community colleges, professional training programs and art schools. Generally these students entered school with full or partial scholarships. Beyond finding the student-within-world and finding her a place in academia as student-within-self, Carlton develops leaders. Ravae was an Upward Bound student who found herself, with support and inertia from Carlton, the only Ameri-Corps volunteer in the City of Poughkeepsie for a year, virtually keeping the programs alive through tough-minded hard work.
Carlton has a heart and talent for mentoring youth. Over the years he has sought opportunities to bring minority youth front and center when they have been left out of the discussion, the opportunity, the funding, or the care they need. At the International Scholar Athlete Games, Carlton single-handedly brought to the organizations attention their lack of concern and outreach to minority youth. Carlton’s trans-cultural training experience does not only translate to negotiating successful the myriad of multiethnic grounds upon 21st century educators constantly must tread, but also lighting a path of example for multicultural education in action where cultural includes race and class. Here is a candidate with international human rights, educational policy, higher education administration, adolescent counseling experience, and love. This is a candidate not to be missed.
Carlton understands the needs of the classroom and the needs of the student whose classroom is the urban flat earth. Carlton believes in students who can be innovators and minority youth who can model for the world justice, empathy, thoughtfulness, and depth of character. Carlton Rounds is the professional marriage of these beliefs.
Best Regards,
Michael J. Foster
Center for Biodiversity and Conservation
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, NY 10024
Phone: 212.313.7052
Fax: 212 769 5292
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