STATEHOUSE (Oct. 30, 2023) – State Rep. Joanna King (R-Middlebury) Friday presented Rob Staley, founder of the Crossing School of Business & Entrepreneurship, with a Circle of Corydon award honoring his support for Hoosier students.
Staley's recognition comes as the Crossing celebrates 20 years of providing state-accredited academic education to students who struggle in a traditional school setting.
Before founding the Crossing in 2003, Staley taught at Fairfield High School and was the principal at Concord High School in Elkhart for 22 years. Now, he manages the Crossing Xtreme Tree Team & Farm overseeing students providing arborist services in the Elkhart County area.
"Rob has truly done an amazing job of transforming young lives not just in Elkhart County, but also across our state," King said. "His ability to think outside the box and create a program that helps students learn and grow has been amazing to watch. You can tell he has a passion for helping others and setting them up for success. Our communities are lucky to have Rob."
The Crossing's mission is to help students find success in life and learn through academics, job training and faith-based character education. In recent years, the Crossing developed career pathway programs providing students hands-on education.
"Rob’s vision for educating struggling youth has had an outsized influence on their success as well as the structure of our education system, influencing both the way we approach non-traditional learners and the systems we use to develop high school students into future contributing Hoosiers," said Ryan Hill, CEO and superintendent of the Crossing.
Throughout the state, main Crossing campus locations service students in a more traditional school setting, providing a classroom for them to do their academic work on computers and job training opportunities outside of the building. Satellite campuses offer a more progressive model located within a local business to educate students both in the classroom and through on-site job training. Students spend half of the day in the classroom and the other half working with a mentor on the floor of the business, learning relevant job skills. Entrepreneurial training centers like the one located in Elkhart County, provide a hands-on approach to learning in the classroom and through student-run micro-businesses, like the Xtreme Tree Team & Farm and Spark Candle Company. Students spend half the day in the classroom and the other half learning the ins and outs of running a small business.
The Circle of Corydon award was established by the governor in 2017 to recognize Hoosiers who have made remarkable contributions to the betterment of Indiana and its people, demonstrating through life and service qualities exemplified by the state’s greatest citizens. This is the only award issued and signed jointly by members of both the executive and legislative branches.
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State Rep. Joanna King (R-Middlebury) represents House District 49,
which includes the eastern portion of Elkhart County.
Click here to download a high-resolution photo.
PHOTO CAPTION: State Rep. Joanna King (R-Middlebury) (far right) helps honor Rob Staley (far left) with a Circle of Corydon award at the Lerner Theatre in Elkhart on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, for his support of Hoosier students. Pictured from left to right, Staley, State Rep. Jake Teshka (R-North Liberty), State Sen. Linda Rogers (R-Granger) and King.
