Name: Ishea Currently Attending: Princeton University Years at Shipley:4 Activities & Positions Held: Student Government (Sophomore & Senior Class President) Yearbook (Editor), Senior Ambassador, Crew (9th-12th), Basketball (9th-10th), Stage Crew (10th)
Reflections on Shipley I am proud that I ended up coming to Shipley because I grew as a leader and a student with the help of Shipley’s great community. As a new freshman, I had no idea what to expect coming to a new school in an unfamiliar part of town, but all of my classmates and teachers were truly welcoming and helped me to feel like part of the community right away. Despite being new, I was encouraged to challenge myself in and out of the classroom, and I took the risk of running for sophomore class president at the end of 9th grade, which ultimately paid off. Along with joining student government, I also joined the crew team, and, with the encouragement of my teachers, I felt comfortable enough to take more rigorous honors courses as the years progressed.
Now, I feel comfortable in my academic abilities. I took many challenging and fascinating classes at Shipley, which changed the way I imagined a high school curriculum. The freedom of course selection in senior year was especially helpful to me because I have a broad range of interests, and I was able to create a schedule for myself that held my attention throughout the year. During my time at Shipley, I also learned how ask for help when I needed it. My teachers made themselves so available to me that I was comfortable advocating for myself, and I was encouraged to share my questions in class to advance everyone’s learning. I had no idea as a freshman that Shipley would come to be such a large part of my life, but now I can’t imagine how my life would have turned out without Shipley and its community. Shipley gave me the academic foundation and the confidence in myself and my abilities that will be paramount for me in college.
Who was your most influential teacher and why? My most influential teacher at Shipley was my 11th grade Honors English teacher Dr. Pickering. She is one of the most intelligent people I have ever met, and she pushed me to read and analyze literature in a completely new way over the course of her class. I had more pertinent and productive conversations in that class than I had in any other class. We read some tough books, most notably Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner, and we explored the implications presented on the nature and fate of humanity. Dr. Pickering is an authoritative yet passionate and encouraging teacher. I often chatted with her about life, but more importantly, I can always rely on her for a good book recommendation (or twelve).
What was your most memorable experience at Shipley? My most memorable experience at Shipley was serving as senior class president this past school year. I was honored to be elected again, and I put a lot of hard work and effort into planning fun events and activities for my class. Planning and executing prom, senior week, and the senior class trip to Six Flags were a few major highlights of my presidency, but it was amazing to work with the other fantastic students on student government. I remember all the fun we had and bonding we did on the student leadership retreat, and I think that trip had a large part in laying the foundation for a great year.
What are your plans for the fall of 2019? Next fall I will be attending Princeton University. I am undecided as to what I would like to major in, but I have an affinity for the sciences.
Are you going to college to nurture a talent that you honed during your time at Shipley? I don’t have any singular or specific talents, but I am going on to college to broaden and deepen my love of learning. At Shipley, I was able to take a range of classes that sparked my interests, whether in English, the Sciences, or Math. I am looking forward to joining a new, diverse school community next year where I will be able to build on my Shipley foundation.
What is your future ambition and what led you to this ambition? My future ambition is to continue to grow as a learner and leader and to eventually be able to use my knowledge to help others. Medical research is interesting to me and is a potential career path that would allow me to combine my fascination with the sciences with public health. However, whatever I end up doing, I hope to be passionate about my work and help others while doing it.
What does Courage for the Deed; Grace for the Doing mean to you? For me, Courage for the Deed; Grace for the Doing means being dedicated yet humble in everything you do. It means doing every task, the difficult and the tedious, deliberately and purposefully. The phrase is a mantra for encouragement and honor to live by and revisit often.
What impact or contributions do you think you have made at Shipley and in the larger community? I think I have made contributions to the image of Shipley through working as an ambassador and speaking at admissions events. I hope to have set an example for the hard work and dedication of a Shipley student, especially with my work as senior class president. Overall I would like to think that I impacted the people I came into daily contact with and hopefully was able to brighten their day or make them laugh.
Complete this sentence: Shipley has prepared me to… handle challenges with grace.
The Shipley Sprouts, Shipley's Upper School horticulture club, won two second-place awards at the 2022 Philadelphia Flower Show for their Tablescape exhibit. In addition, students in the Upper School STEAM Department won third and second-place awards for their Garden Gate exhibit.
The Shipley School is proud to announce that Don Draper has been appointed as Director of Tennis. In his capacity as Director of Tennis, Don will oversee the growth, continuity, and strategic vision for tennis at Shipley.
Originally published in the May 2022 issue of the Upper School student newspaper, The Beacon, this article shares insights from All School President Griffin Chulik ’22 about his student government experience and some final thoughts as he departs from the Shipley community and prepares to head off to college in the fall.
Helping students identify their strengths and weaknesses is an essential goal for any educator guiding them on the path to success. This is especially important in sixth grade, as students make the transition from elementary to middle school. One cornerstone of the sixth grade SEED curriculum is having students explore their own learning styles and apply this knowledge to forming relationships.
On Thursday, May 26 the Upper School held its annual Closing Awards Ceremony. During this ceremony, Shipley recognized the outgoing and incoming student leadership officers and presented students with academic, athletic, and leadership awards.
Shipley's Middle School Latin students took the 2022 National Latin Examination with over 100,000 students from around the world. An impressive 26 students earned Latin Award prizes and recognition for excellence. Middle School Latin students also competed in The Philadelphia Classical Society's 83rd Annual Latin Week Competition - Traditional Artistry & Literary Projects on Classical themes. A total of 55 Middle School students won Latin Awards and recognition for excellence.
The Shipley School is proud to announce the appointment of Harry Green as the School’s new Director of Track and Field. This new position will oversee all running programs. Coach Green will be Head Coach of the Varsity Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field teams and the Cross Country team.
What do Coke and Pepsi have to do with statistics? The seniors in Matt Frankel’s interdisciplinary statistics class can tell you! After studying the statistical problem-solving process all year, students ran a large study with 300 subjects to see if they could differentiate between Coke and Pepsi with a greater accuracy than random guessing would provide.
Shipley Middle School science teacher Ace Schwarz has been selected to participate in its 2022 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Landmarks of American History Workshop, The Space Age on the Space Coast. "I am hoping to bring back what I learn so we can really develop the space exploration aspect of our curriculum," commented Mx. Schwarz.
Shipley’s Middle School Science Olympiad team earned an overall ninth-place finish at the Pennsylvania Science Olympiad State Tournament held at Penn State Altoona on April 30.
The Shipley School is proud to announce that after an extensive search, Eva Winiarski has been named Head Varsity Girls' Lacrosse Coach. She brings a wealth of teaching, playing, and coaching experience to Shipley, most recently as the Assistant Lacrosse Coach and Defensive Coordinator at The McDonough School in Maryland. In the classroom, Eva will join Shipley’s exceptional English Department as an Upper School teacher.
On April 24, 2022, three groups of Shipley’s Upper School students presented research at a roundtable presentation of the Student Participatory Action Research Collaboration (SPARC). “Our students were passionate, thorough, confident, and genuinely enthusiastic about their research topics,” said student advisor and Shipley’s Interim Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Sheri Rider Jobe.
Shipley sixth-grader Jordyn Colbert '28 won first place in the 17th Annual Charlotte Miller Simon Poetry Contest, presented by the Ardmore Free Library.
Shipley’s Middle School and Upper School Science Olympiad teams participated in the Southeast Pennsylvania Science Olympiad Tournament. Combined, the teams earned 18 medals and qualified for the State tournament.
The Shipley School’s DEI Strategic Plan goal 3 is to ensure an equitable experience for all members of the community. One initiative of that goal is to create and support affinity spaces for students, colleagues, families, and alumni. Affinity spaces speak to the efforts of not just ensuring equitable experiences, but also creating experiences that foster belonging in our community. Learn more about our efforts to create these spaces.
The Shipley School is a private, coeducational day school for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students, located in Bryn Mawr, PA. Through our commitment to educational excellence, we develop within each student a love of learning and a desire for compassionate participation in the world.