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.
Carlos Casilla is Shipley’s Director of Choirs, PreK- Grade 12 Performing Arts Department Chair, and Class of 2021 Co-Dean. As a Black Dominican man, he is proud of his heritage, but also acutely aware of how those identities impact others’ perceptions of him, especially when he speaks Spanish in public. Learn more about Carlos and his experience as a person of color in our new series, Centering BIPOC Voices at Shipley.
Inspired by their reading of A Long Walk to Water in English class, sixth graders Lilla Tsvetkov ’27 and Adam Hornberger ’27 have organized a fundraiser aiming to raise $5,000 towards the cost of building a well with the organization, Water for South Sudan. "We aim to inspire our community that no challenge is too big to be resolved or fixed, as long as you try to make a difference, big or small," they say.
The Shipley School is proud to announce Elektra Ballas '21 and Sebastian Fras '21 have been nominated as candidates in the 2021 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.
As Social Studies Department Chair and Equity Liaison at Deer Park Middle Magnet School in Baltimore County, Maryland, Brianna Ross ’10 says, “I’m focused on interrupting teacher biases, beliefs, and practices that perpetuate inequities while working to build teacher capacity to create inclusive classrooms that reflect the strengths and interests of our students.” Learn more about Shipley Changemaker Brianna Ross ’10.
Lee Stuart ’71 has dedicated her life and career to improving the lives of others by providing access to food, housing, education, and a caring community. From the Bronx, NY, to Duluth, MN—she has lived Shipley’s motto, Courage for the Deed; Grace for the Doing. “I’ve been in some really challenging environments and situations, and it’s a good guidepost,” she says. Learn more about Shipley Changemaker, Lee Stuart ’71.
As founder and Chief Executive Officer of Keiki Capital, Dan Lichtenberg ’99 marries his technical and financial expertise with his passion for developing creative solutions to global problems—global warming and climate change, food and water insecurity, income and wealth inequality—and transforming data into actionable intelligence.
Shipley senior Emma Lo has been recognized as a 2021 National YoungArts Foundation Winner in Classical Music (Piano). Through a rigorous audition process, she joins over 600of the most accomplished young visual, literary, and performing artists from across the country.
West Collection: Recent Acquisitions of Diverse Voices This exhibition focuses on nine visual artists who through their work are commenting on world issues ranging from the climate crisis, immigration and migration, and exposing human rights violations.
The Shipley School Performing Arts Department will present Beautiful Trouble to audiences everywhere on Friday, November 20 at 7:30 pm via the School's YouTube channel. The production replaces the traditional Fall Play and is a performance protest piece comprised of scenes, monologues, poetry, short films, and more. Beautiful Trouble hopes to raise awareness for issues that matter to students.
A Shipley Young Alumni Award-winner and one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Next Generation, Sarah Megan Thomas ’97 has just released her third film, A Call to Spy. “I hope my films not only entertain and enlighten but also have a long-term impact, prompting viewers to ask themselves what they might have done in a particular situation and what they can do to help make this world a better place,” she says. Learn more about this Shipley Changemaker.
The Shipley School, The Episcopal Academy, and The Haverford are proud to present a three-part virtual series focused on building and sustaining healthy multiracial communities at our schools, and exploring how families of all racial backgrounds can discuss race in order to contribute to a healthy and inclusive community.
Upper School English teacher John Hornung believes that literature can make a positive impact in the world by helping people develop empathy for others. He teamed up with Hope in a Box, an organization dedicated to making rural classrooms more LGBTQ+ friendly, sharing a study guide for the Laramie Project, which he teaches in his Modern American Drama English elective.
Shipley’s eighth graders participated in a murder mystery whodunnit role play as part of their mystery genre study in English class. Teachers Lila Corgan and Kirsten Small hope the activity deepens students’ understanding of some of the literary devices that define the mystery genre in a fun, social way. The activity wrapped up a two-week study of the Mystery genre, which also included a virtual talk-back with the cast of the Hedgegrow Theater’s Tales from Poe film production.
Shipley seventh grader Natalie Tran ’26 placed 25th in a national Science Olympiad Competition on Epidemiology in September. She is the Middle School team’s first ever national medalist.
Shipley's Middle School science teaching team wanted to find meaningful ways to make their curriculum more inclusive, highlighting diversity in a discipline that has historically been dominated by white men. Their goals? To show the positive impact that diversity can have on the scientific process and to allow all students to view themselves represented in science.
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.