Meet the Team behind OnToCollege

After a 25-year career in sports marketing at IMG/Husker Sports Marketing and in sales and management in local radio, Joni joined the OnToCollege team in order to use her sales and marketing skills to help spread the word about the OnToCollege mission. Her passion for responsible personal finance makes the “minimal debt” part of the mission her priority.

She has a new husband, three children and two dogs. Kylie is a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha and has no student loans. Delaney graduated from Peru State College, and also has no student debt. Sam also studied at Peru State, where he earned a full tuition scholarship thanks to his four-point ACT increase after taking the OnToCollege course. 

Joni enjoys spending time with her husband Rob, her kids, and her mutts, Thor and Loki. She loves to play tennis and captains her USTA team, and likes to read, hike and bike.

Contact: joni@ontocollege.com

Betsy and her husband Kevin have two boys, Spencer and Mason. She enjoys volunteering at her kids’ schools and playing many sports with her kids.  She also loves to spend time with her family at their cabin, enjoying many water activities.

Contact: betsy@ontocollege.com

Ken has spent the last 25 years working in public education as a teacher, athletic director, dean of students, coach, assistant principal, and finally as a MS/HS principal for the last seven years. He graduated from Hope College (Holland, MI) with a BA in Kinesiology and a minor in English and received his MA in Educational Leadership from Western Michigan University.

Ken lives in North Muskegon, MI. with his wife Jessica and four children. When Ken isn’t working, you can find him coaching, attending sporting activities,  traveling or doing yard work. 

Ken is excited to join OnToCollege and to give the students of Michigan the opportunity to see growth in their scores, and more importantly, growth as learners.

Contact: Ken@ontocollege.com

James Cross has spent 30 years in public education with 20 of those as a principal at the junior high, and the last 13 at the high school level.  James led state and nationally ranked schools in both west and southeast Texas.

In 2018, he was recognized by the Texas PTA as the secondary Principal of the Year, followed by Administrator of the Year by the Agricultural Teachers  in 2019, and Principal of the Year by the Journalism Teachers Association in 2020.

James’s schools have thrived academically, athletically, and in the fine arts.  He excelled at building a strong culture not only within the school itself but within the community.  His skill for uniting people is the foundation of his success as a school administrator.  As a former English and history teacher, James enjoys reading and digging into history, but most of all he loves spending time with his family. 

>Jillyn Pendleton retired in July of 2021 after an esteemed career in Nevada for twenty-five years.  She enthusiastically served students, families, and leaders of the Clark County School District with passion, vision, and integrity throughout her tenure.  During her career, she embraced various roles, including science teacher, Dean of Students, Assistant Principal, High School Principal, and School Associate Superintendent.

She earned her bachelor and master’s degrees from Dixie College and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.  She was also recognized as the state principal of the year and the region magnet principal of the year.  She eagerly joined the team at OnToCollege to continue her drive to ensure equitable opportunities for student success and promising futures for all learners.  In her free time she enjoys traveling and spending time with her family.

Contact: Contact: jill@ontocollege.com

Roger has spent 33 years in education in Arkansas, spending 29 years as a high school principal. He graduated from Lyon College with a BA in Social Studies and then received a masters and specialist degree from Arkansas State University. After watching his high school’s ACT scores jump from 18.2 to 20.0, he is fully convinced that OnToCollege is the best way to improve a school’s ACT scores.

Deb worked for 20 years in the credit card industry for First Data and American Express. She held positions in operations, as vice president of corporate settlement, and senior vice president of client relations. Deb’s role at OnToCollege is to keep the “wheels on the bus.”   

She is married and has two grown children.  Deb enjoys spending time with her family, golfing, reading, gardening, skiing, and anything outdoors.

Contact: deb@ontocollege.com

Brenda Cary worked 18 years at Millard West High School in the Counseling Office. In this role, Brenda was instrumental in helping students prepare for their college journey. She also worked closely with parents as they helped plan for their child’s next chapter in post-secondary education. Brenda brings her knowledge to the families and schools at OnToCollege.

Brenda and her husband of 37 years reside in Dallas and have three grown children, graduates from Creighton University and University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She enjoys spending time with her twin grandsons, quilting, and traveling.

Contact:  brenda@ontocollege.com

Heidi worked in university donor and alumni relations for 16 years as a public relations and fundraising assistant, director of membership and online services, and assistant magazine editor. She holds business degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is a former adjunct faculty member for the College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, teaching business communication.

She is married with three children. One attends Penn Law, one is a senior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and one is a freshman at MIZZOU. Heidi loves reading, traveling, and volunteering in the community.

Contact: heidi@ontocollege.com

Lisa worked at First Data Resources for 20 years as a supervisor in operations, customer service account representative, campaign manager, project manager, and software development manager. She has a Telecommunication System Management Certificate from the College of Saint Mary in Omaha.

She is married with two children who both graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Lisa loves boating, hiking, camping, and snow skiing.

Contact: lisa@ontocollege.com

Adam is a Norfolk, Nebraska, native and OnToCollege alum from Norfolk Catholic High School. He graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2016 with a degree in business management.

He began his career in video production in 2012 after being hired as a student intern at HuskerVision, and worked closely with the athletic department to create video content and produce live events. In 2017, he accepted a two-year full-time internship position with HuskerVision.

Upon completion of his internship, Adam accepted a position at OnToCollege as a full-time video production specialist to oversee all the video, editing, and media needs for the company.

Contact:  adam@ontocollege.com

John Baylor graduated from Middlesex School and then Stanford University. Tens of thousands of students have taken OnToCollege’s (formerly John Baylor Prep’s) in-person and online ACT® and SAT® courses.

John’s contrarian test-taking techniques have inspired students for more than two decades–improving scores, scholarships, and college choices. Used by more than 425 high schools in 23 states, OTC’s online classes routinely increase an entire high school’s ACT average score 1-3 points and SAT average score 50-200 points.

Since 1994, John has been the radio voice of University of Nebraska Volleyball. John is also a father, husband, author, tennis player, and golfer.

Contact: john@ontocollege.com

Dee earned a degree in electrical engineering from the University of California, Davis.  She teaches group classes for OnToCollege as well as one-on-one tutoring.  She is also involved in content development and research for OTC.

Dee has been married to her husband Brad for over 25 years.  She homeschooled her three children who all scored 32 and above on the ACT and have all now graduated from college.  She enjoys mentoring young moms and attending Nebraska Huskers’ sporting events with her husband.

Contact: dee@ontocollege.com

Rob has a bachelor’s degree in Physics and a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership. He has been teaching high school Physics and coaching football for 26 years.

His passion for the mission of helping young people get to college with minimal debt comes from his own experiences. As the son of a single mother, he knew his college choices were limited unless he worked hard to achieve excellent grades and test scores in high school. His grades and scores earned him two scholarships covering all of his undergraduate tuition, so he obtained his Physics degree from Hastings College with zero debt.

Rob is married to his wife Joni.  He enjoys playing with their dog, biking, hiking, and craft beer.

Contact: cassie@ontocollege.com