The Highway to Higher Ed

In this episode of Highway to Higher Ed, Alex talks to Meghan Lahey of Steinbrecher & Partners. Meghan has designed a multi-session program and handbook for college-bound students and their parents, giving numerous presentations on navigating high school successfully, college readiness and finding the right fit. She also ran two comprehensive school leadership programs – Caprice Advisors and Peer Leaders – helping scores of students develop their talents and abilities. Within this episode she discusses with Alex her background, the types of student she works with, how she works with them, listing numerous organizations helping students transition out of therapeutic programs. Meghan also discusses her challenges, how the pandemic has changed her business and gives some advice for parents and student considering a transitional program.

In this episode of Highway to Higher Ed, Alex talks to Jennifer Benson, a Therapeutic Educational Consultant at the School Solution, a consultation and placement service for families with a child who is struggling in his or her current environment despite therapeutic and academic supports. Jennifer and Alex discuss Jennifer’s background, what got her into education consulting, what the School Solution is, the types of students they work with, their signature service, their philosophy, options for therapeutic schools, the intake process, the impact it can have on the families of students and advice for parents of students who are looking at therapeutic schools as an option.

In this episode of Highway to Higher Ed, Alex talks to Molly Levine, the co-founder and CEO of Lemon Tree Learning and brings a wealth

of experience, with a career spanning over 15 years, dedicated to supporting families and students in the domains of test preparation, general academic assistance, and executive functioning support. In this episode Molly and Alex talks about Molly’s background, her partnership with her husband, the services Lemon Tree offer, standardized testing for secondary schools, the similarities and differences between ISEE, SSAT and SHSAT tests, the importance of the tests on the application process, the impact of the post-pandemic era on secondary school testing and advice for parents of younger students looking at secondary testing.

In this episode of Highway to Higher Ed, Alex talks to Kristina Dooley, the founder of Estrela Consulting. Previously she’s served as the Assistant Director of Admission at Hiram College (OH) and as the Director of Admissions and Marketing at Andrews Osborne Academy (OH). In addition to her work with students, Kristina has served as President of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) and President of State of Mind: Hudson, a non-profit mental health organization. Within this episodes Alex and Kristina discuss how Kristina got into college consulting, her time as the President of the IECA, certification programs for college consulting, her thoughts on prototypical midwestern small liberal arts schools, their strengths and shortcomings, her favorite schools in the Midwest, how the post-pandemic era has impacted these school and Kristina’s thoughts on the current trends students and parents should be aware of.

In this episode of Highway to Higher Ed, Alex talks to Chad Dorman the founder of Leonard Andrew Consulting. A graduate of The Gunnery (Washington, CT) and the University of Vermont, Chad spent the early years of his career teaching English, Creative Writing, and Public Speaking before venturing out into the world of business. After a time, Chad realized that he desired a return to the world of education, but that he could take the skills he gained in the corporate setting and meld them with his education background, expansive network of contacts, knowledge of the admissions system and start a business that would give clients the edge in their own applications. The result was Leonard Andrew Consulting - a business built on the desire to see every client reach their potential - while applying, during their studies and beyond. Alex and Chad discuss Chads background, his business’ core philosophy and objectives, his services, how he utilizes film, how the NIL policies have impacted recruiting, the post pandemic landscape and some parting advice for young adults and their parents.

In this episode of Highway to Higher ED, Alex talks to Rebekah Elmore of Peak Consulting. She received her BS in Education from Wheelock College (now part of Boston University) in Boston MA, not far from her hometown of Exeter, New Hampshire. She went on to be a middle school teacher where she taught in Westfield, New Jersey. She raised her four children, two girls and two boys and moved into the business world for seven years, using leadership and managerial skills to run a multi-million dollar company of over 200 contracted employees. Using her business knowledge and her love for education and children, she opened PEAK when she realized there was a need for college consulting as she went through the process with her own children. Ultra organized, and passionate about finding the right college fit for each student, she knew she could use her personable touch and way with students, to become a successful Independent Educational Consultant. In this episode Rebekah talks about; her background, how being a parent shaped her approach to college consulting, how she works with students, how the post-pandemic climate has impacted the process of identifying students and targeting schools, some success stories and advice for parents and students.

In the last episode, we focused on small liberal arts schools in the midwest. We now turn to a different, perhaps much broader segment of the student population: those students in suffering from anxiety and related disorders. We’ll be focusing particularly on navigating the many challenges presented to those non-traditional path students, as it can be fairly complex for parents.

I’ll be joined by Dr. Dan Villiers of The Anxiety Institute in his second appearance on the podcast…

Dr. Dan Villiers brings over twenty years of experience working with children, adolescents, young adults and families in a range of clinical and educational settings. In 2011, Dr. Dan co-founded Mountain Valley Treatment Center, the first non-hospital residential program for the treatment of adolescent anxiety in the United States. His successful intervention model, a compassionate approach to assess, educate, and motivate avoidant and resistant school-aged anxiety sufferers, has assisted more than 500 families in their pursuit of treatment.

Dr. Dan has presented at universities and conferences across the country, authored numerous articles on child mental health, and appeared on radio and TV as a subject matter expert on adolescent anxiety.

In this episode of Highway to Higher ED, Alex talks to Keith Wilkerson the founder and owner of College Thoughts, an organization that helps good students go to great colleges by focusing on self-discovery and not stress. With more than two decades of experience helping students attend great middle schools, high schools, and college, Keith is now focused on helping strong students to move on to the best colleges in the nation. Alex and Keith talk about; Keith background and what got him into college counseling, his approach, his company’s core philosophy, the ideal path for students, the importance of college essay writing, bringing out a student authentic voice, the importance of metaphor, the evolution of college applications and how they’ve impacted the role in college essay writing and a lot more.

In this episode of Highway to Higher ED, Alex talks to Johnathan Dunn, a college counsellor for over thirty years, thirteen of which have been at Fairmount Preparatory Academy and Fairmount International School in Southern California. As one of only approximately 350 Certified Educational Planners or CEPs in the world, he is especially well qualified to work with students and their families. within this episode Johnathan talks about his background, how that’s impacted his approach to college counselling, his core philosophies and objectives within his role, the types of students he comes into contact with, differences between small and large universities, regional differences in colleges, how the post-pandemic climate has impacted schools and advice for parents of young adults going through the admissions process.

In this episode of Highway to Higher ED, Ken talks to Niki Kelman the founder and director of New England education consultants.

She’s serves as director of admissions and has been instrumental in serving four different Universities in the North East. Niki holds an MS in Higher Education Administration, a proud member of the independent educational consultants association and has been a director of admission in a private high school. In this episode Ken and Niki discuss how Niki got into education consulting, ways to help families find the fit when looking at colleges, the reorientation of the college admissions criteria, ways students can improve their college applications, challenges students face, the importance of using professional college counselors, as well as sharing some of her success stories and advice to parents of students applying for college.