Dan Blank ’05
20th Reunion
So many of my Shipley teachers were impactful – far too many, in fact, to name here. Classes were lively and deeply engaging, especially those – like Lura Wampler’s chemistry lessons – which fully immersed students in the subject. Emmy Miller and David Rich brought classical literature to life; reading the Aeneid with them managed to be both rigorous and fun. Emmy also introduced me to Shakespeare, for which I will be forever grateful.
I spent many hours in Riely Theatre and Yarnall Gymnasium. But the area where we performed Shakespeare plays stands out the most. The first year of Emmy Miller’s Shakespeare program was also my freshman year, and we performed Julius Caesar in the little courtyard behind the Upper School building, just off the dirt path that ran perpendicular to Yarrow Street. To this day I’m not sure whether we were really authorized to be back there. It was disorganized and at times chaotic, but the show was incredible – so many Shipley productions were in those days – and the experience transformative.
One of my favorite parts about Shipley was the sheer number of extracurricular activities in which I was able to take part. By the time I was a senior, I was doing Shakespeare plays, acting in the Upper School musical, singing in Madriguys, and playing in the handbell choir. I was invited along with a few other students to study ancient Greek with David Rich and Emmy Miller before school. I was also a diehard fan of Shipley sports: although I was in attendance for much more, I managed the varsity soccer and baseball teams, and I ran the scoreboard and kept the official scorebook for every home basketball game. I became known as “Dan the Fan.”
Shipley instilled in me a commitment to service. There were several mechanisms for this, but the one I recall most fondly is the Senior Service Project, when I spent three weeks volunteering at a school for children with autism. It was an incredibly rewarding, if challenging, endeavor. I ended up working there for the following two summers. It was a powerful reminder of the world beyond my own experience and the importance of contributing to it. As an educator, that remains an important lesson for me.