Student Profile: Helping others, just because
Sometimes people do good things without expecting anything in return…not for money, not for credit, not for fame or recognition. Just, maybe, a little appreciation will do.
Rose Hsu ‘25 and Oli Shipman’25 are two students at The Sharon Academy who have joined a new non-profit youth group called Youth Empowerment and Action and are helping to establish it in their local community. Created in 2020 by Karen Ganey as a chapter of the highly successful Woodstock-based Change the World Kids, YEA is now a project of Regeneration Corps. Change the World Kids was founded in 1998 and is now in its twenty-fourth year. YEA is starting from scratch in a much less densely populated area of Vermont, but attempting to do the same thing as Change the World Kids: provide an outlet for teens who want to contribute to their community.
It began for Hsu and Shipman back in the Fall of 2021 when TSA alumnus Katrina Alden ‘12 introduced the program to the students of The Sharon Academy High School during their weekly All School Meeting. Several older TSA students had been involved at the beginning of the program in 2020 and others came and went, but Hsu and Shipman have been the most persistent, showing up at meetings regularly and consistently since they began that Fall of 2021. Alden hopes the group will grow to 10-15 teens, which will allow for a more effective mutual aid network and dynamic programming.
It has been hard to build the team because of transportation limitations in this rural part of the state, but such logistical challenges haven’t deterred Hsu and Shipman. They post ads in the Strafford and Sharon listservs offering their services and presenting events to benefit and promote social and food justice. Alden recalls, “They’ve both been so dedicated. Whatever we do is based on the inspirations of the group. Both Rose and Oli have been constantly inspired to help people, whether it’s shoveling snow or making fresh salsa from the garden, or harvesting and cleaning potatoes. They’re always excited to help the community. They are always generating new ideas.” One example is a bake sale in SoRo which raised money to purchase ecological menstrual products for the food shelf and homeless teens in Burlington.
About Shipman, Alden reflects, “Oli has been really excited about doing things around gender expression. They are one of the most enthusiastic participants and they come to YEA with a lot of inspired ideas that connect them with various groups of people. They spend a lot of time researching issues like immigration and poetry.” And about Hsu, Alden notes, “Rose has been wonderful to work with. Her mission is to talk about uncomfortable topics and spread awareness. She brings a lot of good questions and excitement about creating change. She is also very dedicated to translating her interest into action.”
Community Service was one of the graduation requirements for many years at The Sharon Academy. This requirement was eliminated in 2020 but it remains one of the ways students can earn Standard 6 evidence. However, Hsu and Shipman don’t plan to apply for Standard 6 evidence. They don’t feel the need to attach a reward to their service; the gratitude and impact they make are sufficient payback for them.