World School

Corin Katzke, All-American Boy

Corin was ten years old when he left on his big adventure and spent all of his fifth grade year traveling. At that time he was into scouting, Tae Kwan Do, Legos and Yugioh cards. At the time of his interview in the film he is a 7th grader at Romig Middle School in Anchorage, Alaska where he enjoys learning French, choir, playing the cello in orchestra, parkorps, and running on the track team. His current interests also include SkyRim and reading the classics.

Mary Katzke, Mother, Filmmaker, Photographer

Mary grew up in the Midwest and moved to Alaska as a young adult where she began making documentary films after forming a nonprofit media company called Affinityfilms, Inc. (www.affinityfilms.org) She has produced over 35 documentary films and public service media campaigns.

Vanessa Cochran, Writer/ Editor

Vanessa Cochran has spent the past two decades working in documentary and news post-production. She graduated with a film production degree from New York City University Hunter College after transferring from Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD. She is one of the few Avid and Final Cut Pro editors who have worked live to air from hotel rooms and on a train. She claims to have no idea where technology is taking the media business but holds true the thought that humans will eternally have a need for compelling storytelling. She now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son. She is proud of all of her work with Affinityfilms. 

Josh Sulfaro, Composer and Performer of the Original Music in World School.

From his early days in 80’s rock bands to his present endeavors as a songwriter, composer and student of flamenco, Josh has covered a lot of ground in his 20+ years as a professional musician. He attended Berklee College of Music on a performance scholarship and received a degree in Professional Music. Josh has toured with Haley & Michaels, Jody Raffoul and The Ryan Michaels Band. He has also performed on national and international television talk shows. Josh studied with Los Angeles guitar great Jeff Kollman as well as flamenco in Granada Spain at Carmen De Las Cuevas.

Cheryl Childers, Teacher, Consultant on Educational Guide

Cheryl grew up in Saugerties, NY - in the heart of the Catskill Mountains. She moved to Alaska in 1980 and by 1988 was teaching school in Unalaska, Alaska and is now in her 25th year of teaching in Alaska. As a teacher, she has been inspired by those who believe the purpose of education is to inspire a life-long love of learning. Educators like Alexander Sutherland Neill, founder of the Summerhill School in England and Alfie Kohn, author of books The Schools Our Children Deserve, and Rachel Carson, naturalist and author of The Sense of Wonder have had an influence on her personal philosophy of education. Cheryl believes that most of the relevant education in a child’s life takes place outside of the four walls where they spend most of their learning lives. For this reason, it is imperative we make learning mirror what’s happening ‘outside’ as much as we can.