Ellis Seniors Present on Travel Experiences
On February 11, two members of the Class of 2019, Payton Ferris and Lauren Jasper, presented to their peers in Ellis’ Upper School about their summer travels thanks to the Marcie WATERMAN Love ’56 International Travel Grant for the Global Empowerment of Women and Girls. Also in attendance were their parents, Marcie WATERMAN Love ’56, and her two daughters. Each girl gave a presentation about their experience abroad and how they are going to take what they learned and integrate it into their senior projects.
Payton’s program connected her with students at Denver’s Girls Athletic Leadership School in a partnership with the Guatemalan organization Starfish to affect positive change in girls education. She spent time in an all-girls school getting to know their stories and how different, but also similar, an all-girls education can be in Guatemala.
“Ms. Love's gift gave me the opportunity to experience the most incredible thing that I could have ever dreamed of,” she says, “Both the trip and Ms. Love herself have inspired me to go above and beyond to make a difference as an individual in the society I am in.”
Over the summer, Lauren spent five weeks in South Africa with The Experiment in International Living where she was focused on Leadership and Social Change. During her time there she got to explore historically significant areas as well as do a homestay with a family.
Of the experience, Lauren says, “This award not only allowed me to go on an incredible trip to South Africa over the summer but also gave me the opportunity to work with the Ujamaa Collective here in Pittsburgh to help support black women both globally and domestically. I am so grateful for this experience!”
Their trips were made possible by Ellis alumna Marcie WATERMAN Love ’56 who has devoted her life to activism and making the world a better place for girls. Inspired by her own travels the Marcie WATERMAN Love ’56 International Travel Grant for the Global Empowerment of Women and Girls gives students the opportunity to develop their voices, strengths, and passions while becoming changemakers beyond the Ellis campus.
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