Press Release: Esperanza Academy and Great Women to Know Team Up for a Different Kind of Shadow Day

LAWRENCE, MA February 2, 2009 - While the eyes of the nation were focused on the movements of a sleepy groundhog, Esperanza Academy students had their sights fixed on the future. In its 2nd annual Shadow Day, Esperanza Academy and Great Women to Know teamed up to provide the school's 80 girls, in grades 5-8, an opportunity to learn about a wide range of careers, and to experience first-hand what it's like to be a veterinarian, a lawyer, a pediatrician, a banker, a retail business owner and more.

Shadow Day kicked-off in the morning with classroom presentations at Esperanza for 5th, 6th and 7th graders by members of the non-profit Great Women to Know, a service and social organization of professional women from the Merrimack Valley and North Shore of Massachusetts. After lunch, 7th grade students spent the afternoon shadowing the organization's members at their places of business. Eighth grade girls spent a full day in the workplace. The girls visited with Great Women to Know members at their places of work from Boston to Andover to Salem, MA. Among the participants (full list attached) were women employed at: Citizens Bank, Merrill Lynch, PAN Communications, Phillips Academy Andover, the Andover School of Law, Andover Animal Hospital, Pleasant Valley Animal Hospital and Groundwork Lawrence, as well as numerous business owners and private practitioners.

Laurie Bottiger, Esperanza Academy head of school, said, "Shadow Day is a wonderful way to introduce our students to the variety of career opportunities available to them. Their encounters with these talented women inspire them to think broadly about their own futures and what they can achieve."

Great Women to Know co-founder Susan Wilson, commented, "Our members embrace this opportunity to connect with the Esperanza girls through their passion for what they do. It is exciting to think that your experience may be the spark of inspiration for a young woman just beginning to consider her future."

Esperanza Academy, School of Hope, is a tuition-free school that creates an enriched environment fostering individual success and community commitment for fifth through eighth grade girls from Lawrence, Massachusetts. Esperanza provides a quality education in the Episcopal tradition, welcoming girls of diverse faiths, races and cultures. At Esperanza, each student is challenged to realize her potential by developing academic competence, confidence, curiosity, integrity and hope.

Great Women to Know, a 501(C)(6) organization, was founded in 2007 by Andover residents Susan Wilson and Margaret Hamilton. The organization's mission is to harness its members' talent and experience to benefit young women in need in the community. Great Women to Know volunteers work with the Esperanza Academy students throughout the year to introduce them to the wide variety of careers and talents represented in its membership, and to give them the seeds of inspiration to help them grow their own career dreams and goals.

Check out more photos here!