Three Siblings Following their Passions

The Stone children, Annie ’06, Sophie ’10, and Peter ’11, have longstanding ties to Harrisburg Academy.  They have followed in the footsteps of their father (David ’75) and aunt (Elizabeth ’78).  All three grew up in the school, and Sophie was the first graduate from the Academy to have been enrolled from the HATS program through the senior year (15 years!).

This past year their legacy came to a close as the youngest sibling, Peter, graduated as a member of the Class of 2011.  Their interests and their paths are varied, but they all credit Harrisburg Academy with allowing them to discover their passions early on—through the Academy’s liberal arts curriculum and the opportunity to explore their interests widely, they have easily and successfully transitioned into life beyond the Academy.

Annie graduated from Harvard University in 2010 with a degree in Comparative Literature.  She chose the program because she was immediately drawn to its interdisciplinary nature and small class size.  She went on to write her thesis on the subject of daughterhood in C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, which, ironically, was a topic that she first explored for an assignment at the Academy. 

The excellent music education she received at the Academy allowed her to successfully audition for the Radcliffe Pitches, a premier a cappella singing group.  Through her involvement with the group, she was able to travel to Mexico, Bermuda,  Hong Kong, and other destinations.  She also flexed her business and fundraising muscles as president, tour manager, business manager, and fundraising manager in various years. 

Annie says that one of the most important things the Academy taught her was how to write well.  “I witnessed the way some of my classmates at school struggled with the large writing workload, and was incredibly grateful that I had been so well-prepared by my excellent middle and high school teachers (and even in lower school--I remember well our "Honor" assignment in the fourth grade!).” 

Annie continues to follow her passion for writing in her career as an assistant editor in the children’s book division for HarperCollins Publishers.  “Who knows, maybe my name will be on a children’s book someday!” 
Sophie entered Franklin & Marshall College last year as a sophomore due to her success in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at the Academy.  Upon graduation from the Academy, the IB program gave her a year’s worth of college credits. Like her sister, she felt well-prepared for college.  The intense work load at the Academy taught her about balance and time management—the assignment to read 50 pages per class each night didn't really seem too horrific because she was already used to doing hours of work in high school.  

Even though Sophie is a year ahead of her classmates credit-wise, she has chosen to spend four years on campus and to take advantage of F&M’s liberal arts curriculum by selecting one course per semester that is purely out of interest and is not necessarily a graduation requirement. “When else during my life will I be able to learn about the development of North American religion as in my Intro to the American Spirit class? Or the rise and fall of Roman culture as in History of Ancient Rome? The history, sociology, psychology, and economics of hatred as in Why We Hate?” she says.

If you asked any faculty member last year to describe Peter Stone, they’d most likely say that he was a studious, intelligent student who was also a talented guitarist.  When selecting colleges last year, he looked at schools like the Berklee College of Music.  But then he decided that he wanted to spread his wings a bit and study other disciplines as well. 

He also looked at Tufts University, New York University, Boston University, and Ithaca College.  He ultimately chose Tufts because it had a more formal campus, unlike NYU, BU, or Berklee, and it was near a major metropolitan area, unlike Ithaca.  “I chose it over Berklee because it would have been too focused on music, and I want to explore other subjects as well (such as psychology, sociology, and languages). Tufts also had a huge focus on interdisciplinary thinking, which appealed to me as I have a wide range of interests,” he says.  

And, while he believes he’s been well-prepared by the Academy due to the rigorous curriculum and diverse programs, he’s waiting to see how he does at Tufts.  If his sisters are any indication of how the Academy has prepared a student to handle college, there’s no doubt that he’ll be just as successful.   

Gifts to the Academy Fund make it possible for Harrisburg Academy to attract and support students of the highest caliber. Please click on “Support the Academy.” Gifts received by June 30, 2012 will count toward this year’s fundraising goal.