Upper
April 18, 2024
Emily Wiedemann ’01 Visits Upper
Emily Wiedemann ’01 spoke to Upper School students about her work as a producer in the film industry on Monday, April 8, as part of the Alumni Speaker Series, honoring the 50th anniversary of the merger that created The Seven Hills School.
Wiedemann is the founder and executive producer of Greencard, an independent film company in New York City that makes commercials and short and feature films. During her keynote speech at the all-school meeting, Wiedemann shared how following her passions led her from majoring in art history at New York University to working in the restaurant industry to becoming a film producer.
“Passions change as you grow. You just have to get started. Don’t wait around for the perfect opportunity or for some lightning bolt from above to tell you what you should be doing. Try something, and see if you like it. You don’t need to have a grand master plan, you just need to make some smaller, hopefully thoughtful, choices. Try different things, stay busy,” Wiedemann told the students.
Wiedemann attended Jason Knarr’s film and animation class and ran students through a storyboarding exercise. She visited Shauna Whelan’s creative writing class and shared how she explored creative writing while at Seven Hills, writing and directing her own play as her Challenge Experience.
Traveling Abroad to Taiwan
Over Spring Break, students in Mia Wu’s and Nanyue Zhu’s Chinese classes spent a week in Taiwan. The group spent six days in Taipei and one day in Yilan, a hot springs town. They visited Taiwanese monuments, museums, markets, local scenery, and various villages. “We visited one local school, and students made so many local Taiwanese friends they ended up joining part of our trip. Students had a blast enjoying the delicious food, beautiful scenery, and talking to locals. They definitely used their Chinese skills they have learned in class!” Wu said.
Choosing a book in American Literature
Associate librarian Gail Bloom visited Shauna Whelan’s American literature class to teach the students about choosing the right book to highlight the skills they have learned throughout the year. Whelan is working with Bloom on a choice book unit, which has each student choose their own book to read instead of having the whole class read the same book. Once the book is chosen, the students will exhibit their reading, analysis, writing, and discussion skills in self-directed, small groups. “It’s a great way for students to demonstrate what we’ve practiced all year within a whole class environment in a more independent way,” Whelan said.
