Schoen’s Investment in Rider Pays a Return
Ask Ingrid Schoen ’86 about her career and the conversation will eventually lead back to Rider University. A College of Continuing Studies graduate now in pursuit of a master’s degree in Curriculum, Instruction and Supervision, Schoen says Rider played an integral role in her path to professional fulfillment. So much so, in fact, that when Schoen decided to close her educational retail business, Learning Partners, it seemed fitting to give something back to the institution that helped her along the way. Schoen recently donated nearly $90,000 worth of her store’s inventory to the Curriculum Resource Center in Rider’s School of Liberal Arts, Sciences, and Education.
“Rider has given so much to me in so many aspects,” said Schoen, a resident of Florence, N.J., about why she decided to donate the supplies to the University. “I wouldn’t be where I am now without Rider.”
Prior to coming to the University, Schoen had done factory line work at General Motors. She was taking business classes at Mercer County Community College when she heard about Rider’s exceptional business program and decided to apply to the College of Continuing Studies to pursue degrees in Accounting and Finance part time, while working full time at General Motors. She did, and in 1986, Schoen graduated magna cum laude with degrees in Accounting and Finance.
It was through Career Services at Rider that Schoen found an opening for a part-time auditing position with Arthur Young. She interviewed and was hired on the spot.
“What I was learning in my accounting and business courses was exactly what I needed for the auditing position with Arthur Young,” Schoen said. “Rider prepared me. I took what I learned in my auditing classes and applied it at my job.”
From there, Schoen obtained a full-time position at WithumSmith+Brown. Right away, her supervisors realized her potential, and again, Schoen realized how prepared she was for the job because of Rider.
“Within two weeks, I was working with a multimillion-dollar developer putting spreadsheets together for housing projects because I learned how to do it at Rider,” Schoen said.
While at WithumSmith+Brown, Schoen received her CPA and had her first son. As a 2-year-old, he began to ask a multitude of questions, and she wanted to find flashcards and learning materials that could help answer them. When she could not find a store that met her needs, Schoen, leaning on her business background and desire to teach her son, came up with the idea to start her own educational retail business. She opened Learning Partners in Hamilton, N.J., in 1990. The store relocated to Bordentown in 1999.
“Everything that Rider taught me – accounting, auditing, business – I put to use,” said Schoen, who ran the store from 1990 to December 2002.
At the store, Schoen enjoyed helping teachers prepare for lesson plans and observations. When she saw a need among students seeking help with class work, Schoen started a tutoring program at the store. One day, a seventh-grader arrived in need of help with probability, so she took a math book home at night and reviewed it. “I thought, I could teach this!” she said. So, she became the store’s math tutor.
The tutoring experience and the passion displayed by the teachers who visited the store inspired Schoen to become a teacher. In 2002, Schoen leased out her store and returned to Rider to enroll in the Graduate Level Teacher Certification Program (GLTP), moving a step closer to the front of the classroom. “I could immediately apply everything that I learned at Rider to student teaching,” said Schoen, who now teaches seventh-grade math in the Medford Township (N.J.) Public School District.
In 2006, after receiving her certification, and during her first year as a full-time teacher, Schoen once again resumed control of the store, but realized she could not teach, run the business and also fulfill her family obligations. She knew she had to do something with the business. To Schoen, the answer was Rider.
Don Ambrose, professor of Teacher Education, said Schoen’s gift to the school was generous, but is fitting for someone who wants to benefit the world in a positive way.
“She’s a strong altruist,” said Ambrose, who added that all Rider undergraduate and graduate education students have access to the Curriculum Resource Center’s materials when developing lesson plans.
Ambrose said the GLTP is designed for career-changing people who come to Rider with substantial life and work experience and want to teach. Students in the program are mature and have a sense of idealism, he said. Schoen is a strong example because she is intelligent and wants to make a difference, he added.
Schoen’s current curriculum focuses on proportion work, positive and negative numbers and beginning algebra. Schoen uses art projects in her classes to help her students understand math in a fun way. In the summer of 2007, Schoen began work on her Masters in Curriculum, Instruction and Supervision, and is currently taking two night classes.
Schoen’s favorite thing about teaching is enabling students to actually enjoy and understand math concepts. It’s important for students to understand that the subject is relevant in their lives, she added.
Kathleen Pierce, department chair of Graduate Education and assistant professor of Teacher Education, described Schoen as an inventive teacher who has a passion for teaching.
“She has this childlike excitement for learning new things,” Pierce said. “She really meets the challenge of trying to find out how to help kids.”
