A premier independent preschool to eighth grade school in Buffalo, NY.
Elmwood Franklin School
  • About
    • Welcome from the Head
    • Mission and Core Values
    • History
    • School Leadership
    • Board of Trustees
    • In the News
    • Professional Development
    • Facilities
    • Careers at Elmwood Franklin
    • COVID-19 Updates
  • Admissions
    • Welcome
    • EFS At a Glance
    • School Community
    • Admissions Events
    • Admissions Process
    • Tuition & Value
  • Academics
    • Academic Philosophy
    • Faculty
    • Prep
    • Lower School >
      • Remote Learning
    • Upper School
  • Student Life
    • Student Support Services
    • Afterschool Care
    • Arts
    • Athletics
    • Dress Code
    • Dining Service
    • Options Program
    • Outdoor Education
    • Service Learning
    • Summer Camp
    • Summer Work
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • My EFS
    • Parents
    • Alumni >
      • Alumni in the News
      • Share Your News
    • Faculty
    • Students
  • Giving
    • Annual Fund
    • Auction
    • Gifts of Stock
    • Planned Giving
    • Volunteer
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Location

Catching up with Shahirah Gillespie '04

2/16/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
​We recently heard from Elmwood Franklin School alumna Shahirah Gillespie ’04, who was just published in the Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health and selected as a 2017 Global Youth Ambassador. Read what she’s been up to as she gets ready to make tracks around the world.
 
Following EFS, Shahirah attended Miss Porter’s School, a boarding and day school located in Farmington Connecticut, where she held leadership roles in multiple diversity activities and co-founded a multicultural media-discussion group. While a student, she travelled to Deschapelles, Haiti for a service trip, volunteering at Hôpital Albert Schweitzer. As a senior, Shahirah was one of two winners of the Princeton Prize in Race Relations for her outstanding work to advance the cause of race relations in her school community.
 
After high school, Shahirah attended Amherst College where she received a John Woodruff Simpson Fellowship and graduated with a double major in biology and psychology. She continued her studies in trauma-informed care at Drexel University and received her Master of Public Health degree.  After graduation, she researched as a Samuel S. Fels Fellow for the Philadelphia Hoarding Task Force. This February, Neighbourhood Amenities and Depressive Symptoms in Urban-Dwelling Older Adults, co-authored by Shahirah, was published in the Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health.
 
Shahirah is back in Buffalo working as an Outreach and Education Specialist with Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York, teaching sexual and reproductive health with ethnic-specific resiliency strategies to youth and adult groups. This summer, she is heading to East Africa to study Afro-centric, promotion-focused health messaging as a 2017 Global Youth Ambassador. The program centers on a three- to four-week learning exchange with a Planned Parenthood Federation partner organization in Africa with the goal of connecting young health professionals with global leaders and experts from different cultures. The program supports sexual and reproductive rights advocacy and education and will culminate in a Buffalo-based service delivery project aimed at youth empowerment for underserved communities and linkage to non-judgmental health care services.
 
Aligning with her research and community interests, Shahirah also participates in Yogis in Service Teacher Training. The YISTT program was developed in partnership with a research team at the University at Buffalo to  provide effective training in trauma-informed, inclusive yoga.

Looking back on her time at Elmwood Franklin, Shahirah fondly remembers, “concerts with Mrs. Peterson, expressing our choreography and re-starting songs during concerts when she knew we could perform better. Also, I really enjoyed Colonial Day with Mrs. McGennis and learning poetry with Mrs. Gordon.”
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Enter your e-mail address:

    Share Your News

    archives

    February 2017
    October 2016
    September 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    June 2014

    Categories

    All
    Class Of 1979
    Class Of 1985
    Class Of 1986
    Class Of 1992
    Class Of 2004
    Class Of 2006
    Class Of 2011
    Class Of 2012
    Class Of 2013
    Class Of 2016

    RSS Feed

This is the background of the Bottom Area shown below. It'll display correctly on published site.
If you don't want background for the bottom area, simply hover over the bottom of this image to delete it. The background of the bottom area will be a solid dark color.

VISIT

APPLY

DONATE

Elmwood Franklin School prepares children to lead thriving lives.

Find us on:


© Elmwood Franklin School | 104 New Amsterdam Avenue, Buffalo, New York 14216
admissions@elmwoodfranklin.org | 716-877-5035 | fax 716-877-9680

​Elmwood Franklin School is accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools.