The rolling hills, tall trees and star-filled sky make an amazing place for one to grow up. Joshua Shipman, an AP Environmental Science teacher at James Madison High School grew up in a place like this. Living in central Pennsylvania allowed for easy access to hikes, which fostered a love for the outdoors. Shipman was often found outside with friends playing sports like baseball or at Boy Scouts.
“I grew up doing a lot of stuff outside and loved playing outside as a kid,” Shipman said.
For six summers he was able to attend Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center. He participated as a camper and later a helper, and it left him with a lasting appreciation for the environment: being constantly surrounded by nature made it inevitable that Shipman would fall in love with our planet and solar system.
“Every star and its own solar system has a story,” Shipman said.
When the time came to make a decision for college, he chose Penn State because it was close to home. His innate love for the stars that he carried throughout high school played a large part in his decision to major in astronomy. His freshmen year general education classes went smoothly, he loved his astronomy class and was excited to continue with a harder class the next year.
“[During freshman year] I got a cool opportunity to get a telescope key,” Shipman said. “And I was able to go operate it on my own.”
Sophomore year rolled around and Shipman was able to take more streamlined classes dedicated to astronomy. He walked in on the first day excited, but left the class feeling disheartened. His teacher told him that it was a grad-level weed-out class and that most of the students would drop out.
“Even in my own teaching philosophy I don’t agree with that perspective, I really think that all learners are different,” Shipman said.
He felt like the class threw him in the deep end with new expectations and harder materials. He believed this was unfair and wanted to make a change to education and the way students are taught. When deciding to switch his major to general education he felt like the time he spent at camp prepared him to work with kids, especially to teach them things he was passionate about. Shipman feels as though the education programs at Penn State aligned with his beliefs and fostered a strong desire to spark curiosity. In his teachings, he likes to inform students enough to build a strong foundation, but also leave things unknown to allow students to seek answers outside of the classroom and engage with their questions.
“I want people to be resilient and grow independently,” Shipman said.
