Shippensburg University is a founding member of the Rep4 (Rapid Education Prototyping for Change, Learners, Community, Equity) Alliance, a strong network of education, industry, and technology leaders. Ship’s role as the northeast anchor institution in the national alliance builds upon the Bridging the Gap student-driven initiative spearheaded by current Ship student Lance Hines-Butt to deepen relationship with local high school principals to better serve our region.

Using the platform of Bridging the Gap, Ship’s Rep4 initiative created an exciting forum where voices of high school students were heard with the goal of creating a more equitable future for all.  Ship convened high school students with diverse background from Pennsylvania and New York and provided a platform for them to share their ideas during a two day-regional summit led by faculty and staff.   The excitement and dedication of these 23 students resulted in two dynamic design-frames around grit and student-agency that will be shared live at the Thursday August 5 Rep4 National Convening. Register today at www.rep4.org/convening.

Ship’s innovative Rep4 presentations include:

  • Team VOCE (voice in Italian) focused on conscious and unconscious bias while giving all students a voice at the table. The team is represented by Hailey Meckley, from York County School of Technology and Kennedy Holt, from Harrisburg High School and Sci Tech High. Both student representatives come from diverse urban high schools with strong school and community partnerships. This presentation addresses education inequity that students have experienced
  • Team GRIT focused on creating a model for educators to recognize guts, resilience, initiative, and tenacity. It advocates higher education institutions to factor these qualities into their overall academic profile, grades, and student experiences. Donte Martin from Stroudsburg High School, and Alivia Snyder from North Schuylkill Jr/Sr High School will present.

Shippensburg University is working with a broad coalition of regional education leaders to grow this critical program to increase student and learner agency in post-secondary education. Current partners include Philadelphia School District, East Pennsboro Area School District, Central Dauphin School District, Philadelphia school district, Harrisburg, Hazleton Area School District, East Pennsboro, West Shore School District, Washington County Public Schools, North Schuylkill, Penn State and Susquehanna Township, Central Dauphin East high school, Manheim Central high school, Lebanon high school, Bishop McDevitt high school, Mastery Schools (Pickett Campus), and students from Pharos Academy in The Bronx, NYC. 

The Rep4 Alliance convening institution is Grand Valley State University and is joined by five founding colleges and universities: Amarillo College, Boise State University, Fort Valley State University, San José State University, and Shippensburg University.