Class of 1972 alumna Margaret “Macke” Raymond once said about what the Shipley motto means to her, “‘Strength for the deed’ requires having a deed in mind – and in turn, a goal that deed serves. Organizing one’s life around a goal is a measure of success in itself: my crazy shoot-for-the-moon goal is to dramatically change the U.S. public education system to give all children the tools to be self-sufficient and conscientious members of our democracy.” Dr. Raymond embodies the Margaret Bailey Speer Award.

Dr. Raymond was a boarding student at Shipley from 1969 until her graduation in 1972 and was one of only a handful of girls from her class to participate in the experimental student exchange with Episcopal Academy in 1971 to 1972 and receive her diploma from both schools. After Shipley, Dr. Raymond graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA in Psychology from Boston University before going on to the University of Rochester, where she received dual Masters’ degrees in Public Policy Analysis and Public Health. Later, she also earned her Ph.D. in Political Science. The University of Rochester is also where Dr. Raymond set her personal and professional goal of changing the U.S. public education system, starting off as a research analyst at The Center for Governmental Research, while also maintaining a full schedule of teaching undergraduate students. She also served as President of Raymond Associates from 1985 to 2000, a private consulting company specializing in public policy research and telecommunications policy formulation.

In 1999, Dr. Raymond founded the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO), and a year later moved the Center and her research to Stanford University. She has steered CREDO to national prominence as a rigorous and independent source for policy and program analysis while leading CREDO in investigating the effectiveness of public charter schools. Dr. Raymond and her team have published numerous reports on state and city charter schools, and her research has attracted notice from local, state, and federal policymakers, including the United States Secretary of Education.

Just as former Shipley Headmistress Margaret Bailey Speer did, Dr. Raymond has been instrumental in effecting change in the field of education. Today we recognize Dr. Macke Raymond as an alumna who truly embodies the school motto and who truly deserves the 12th Margaret Bailey Speer Award.

My sincere thanks to the Shipley Trustees for bestowing this amazing award. I am deeply grateful to be linked to a woman whose inspiring life and legacy continue to shape Shipley. And how could I miss the fact that we are linked by name as well — we Margarets have to stick together!

Courage for the Deed, Grace for the Doing. Hmmmm. Didn't make a lot of sense when I sat where you are sitting. But I can promise you, in the years ahead, it will be like those hidden pictures where, suddenly, things come into focus. It will — I want to speak a bit of what that turned out to be for me.

You'll notice that the creed is completely vague. Exactly WHAT deed, you might wonder. That is one of the special things about Shipley — beyond the geometry (which I loved, by the way) or the Latin (which I loathed) — is the chance to learn about who you are as an individual. Your Deed will come. The path to self knowledge comes in many forms and you will likely arrive at your destination long after you get your diplomas. But the exposure to knowledge and ways of thinking and to values like respect and kindness, provides each of us what we need to figure it out. At Shipley it's really possible to go wide (have a lot of different experiences) and go deep (use knowledge in its many forms to learn about yourself.) At the risk of sounding like your grandmother — I hope you know how lucky you are to be here.

Going deep.......I learned a lot about myself at Shipley. I was a boarding student and a terror to all the housemothers. I learned that I am not really happy with a lot of rules, but that I thrive when I have to forge a path that's never been done before. I also learned that I am really nosy — I want to know all about what you and you are up to and especially if it involves personal stuff! So it's amazingly lucky that I found a way to make a living drawing on those "special skills". The field is called "program evaluation." That means that a lot of people want to pay me a lot of money to figure out if the things that our state and federal governments are trying to improve society actually work. Every assignment is a "first time ever" situation. AND I get paid to stick my nose in other people's business — how great is that?!?

Going wide.... I have been linked to Margaret Bailey Speer, the woman for whom this award is named, for much of the past dozen years. Many of you are aware of the Bryn Mawr tutoring program, and Shipley's version the Will Trippley Tutoring Program. Speer started the program in 1965. In 1969, I was in ninth grade when I signed up to spend one afternoon a week in the inner city helping young students with reading or math. I will never forget the sight of the school as we drove up in the bus, nor the dingy halls or decrepit desks and chairs. Nor the students who came to school in the winter wearing only windbreakers -- no hat or gloves. I was too young then to fully understand the problem of poverty in the US or the critical chance that a good education offers for a better future. And at the time, I had no notion of education policy or how valuable research can be in shaping government decisions. But the seeds of that experience long ago took root, and now I spend my days looking for ways to give all students, regardless of their zipcode, a high quality education so they can lead satisfying and productive lives. I do this through program evaluation, and I'm happy to say Shipley classes in math and history and even the dreaded Latin have come in handy.

The biggest impact of Shipley, however, was the gift of believing in myself as a unique person with the potential to fulfill all my aspirations. I truly believe each of us is a force in the world, and I'll close with a quote from another great Margaret, Margaret Mead, who said, "Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

Thank you very much.

Class of 1972 alumna Margaret “Macke” Raymond once said about what the Shipley motto means to her, “‘Strength for the deed’ requires having a deed in mind – and in turn, a goal that deed serves. Organizing one’s life around a goal is a measure of success in itself: my crazy shoot-for-the-moon goal is to dramatically change the U.S. public education system to give all children the tools to be self-sufficient and conscientious members of our democracy.” Dr. Raymond embodies the Margaret Bailey Speer Award.

Dr. Raymond was a boarding student at Shipley from 1969 until her graduation in 1972 and was one of only a handful of girls from her class to participate in the experimental student exchange with Episcopal Academy in 1971 to 1972 and receive her diploma from both schools. After Shipley, Dr. Raymond graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA in Psychology from Boston University before going on to the University of Rochester, where she received dual Masters’ degrees in Public Policy Analysis and Public Health. Later, she also earned her Ph.D. in Political Science. The University of Rochester is also where Dr. Raymond set her personal and professional goal of changing the U.S. public education system, starting off as a research analyst at The Center for Governmental Research, while also maintaining a full schedule of teaching undergraduate students. She also served as President of Raymond Associates from 1985 to 2000, a private consulting company specializing in public policy research and telecommunications policy formulation.

In 1999, Dr. Raymond founded the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO), and a year later moved the Center and her research to Stanford University. She has steered CREDO to national prominence as a rigorous and independent source for policy and program analysis while leading CREDO in investigating the effectiveness of public charter schools. Dr. Raymond and her team have published numerous reports on state and city charter schools, and her research has attracted notice from local, state, and federal policymakers, including the United States Secretary of Education.

Just as former Shipley Headmistress Margaret Bailey Speer did, Dr. Raymond has been instrumental in effecting change in the field of education. Today we recognize Dr. Macke Raymond as an alumna who truly embodies the school motto and who truly deserves the 12th Margaret Bailey Speer Award.

My sincere thanks to the Shipley Trustees for bestowing this amazing award. I am deeply grateful to be linked to a woman whose inspiring life and legacy continue to shape Shipley. And how could I miss the fact that we are linked by name as well — we Margarets have to stick together!

Courage for the Deed, Grace for the Doing. Hmmmm. Didn't make a lot of sense when I sat where you are sitting. But I can promise you, in the years ahead, it will be like those hidden pictures where, suddenly, things come into focus. It will — I want to speak a bit of what that turned out to be for me.

You'll notice that the creed is completely vague. Exactly WHAT deed, you might wonder. That is one of the special things about Shipley — beyond the geometry (which I loved, by the way) or the Latin (which I loathed) — is the chance to learn about who you are as an individual. Your Deed will come. The path to self knowledge comes in many forms and you will likely arrive at your destination long after you get your diplomas. But the exposure to knowledge and ways of thinking and to values like respect and kindness, provides each of us what we need to figure it out. At Shipley it's really possible to go wide (have a lot of different experiences) and go deep (use knowledge in its many forms to learn about yourself.) At the risk of sounding like your grandmother — I hope you know how lucky you are to be here.

Going deep.......I learned a lot about myself at Shipley. I was a boarding student and a terror to all the housemothers. I learned that I am not really happy with a lot of rules, but that I thrive when I have to forge a path that's never been done before. I also learned that I am really nosy — I want to know all about what you and you are up to and especially if it involves personal stuff! So it's amazingly lucky that I found a way to make a living drawing on those "special skills". The field is called "program evaluation." That means that a lot of people want to pay me a lot of money to figure out if the things that our state and federal governments are trying to improve society actually work. Every assignment is a "first time ever" situation. AND I get paid to stick my nose in other people's business — how great is that?!?

Going wide.... I have been linked to Margaret Bailey Speer, the woman for whom this award is named, for much of the past dozen years. Many of you are aware of the Bryn Mawr tutoring program, and Shipley's version the Will Trippley Tutoring Program. Speer started the program in 1965. In 1969, I was in ninth grade when I signed up to spend one afternoon a week in the inner city helping young students with reading or math. I will never forget the sight of the school as we drove up in the bus, nor the dingy halls or decrepit desks and chairs. Nor the students who came to school in the winter wearing only windbreakers -- no hat or gloves. I was too young then to fully understand the problem of poverty in the US or the critical chance that a good education offers for a better future. And at the time, I had no notion of education policy or how valuable research can be in shaping government decisions. But the seeds of that experience long ago took root, and now I spend my days looking for ways to give all students, regardless of their zipcode, a high quality education so they can lead satisfying and productive lives. I do this through program evaluation, and I'm happy to say Shipley classes in math and history and even the dreaded Latin have come in handy.

The biggest impact of Shipley, however, was the gift of believing in myself as a unique person with the potential to fulfill all my aspirations. I truly believe each of us is a force in the world, and I'll close with a quote from another great Margaret, Margaret Mead, who said, "Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

Thank you very much.