Hannah Lidicker
Hannah Lidicker attended Sedona Charter School from pre-K into 8th grade, and says that her time here gave her a foundation that has helped her successfully navigate a variety of challenging educational and workplace environments.
The teachers she remembers most are Colleen Fischer, who was constantly supportive, and Bob and Terri Wentsch. “They had such a unique classroom, and it was brilliantly geared toward teaching us about managing time and being responsible for quality work.”
She adds that “Sedona Charter School gave me the confidence to pursue things I might not have otherwise. I never felt nervous or self-conscious, even going to a prep school on the other side of the country.” In fact, she was so successful at her high school—Christchurch college preparatory in Virginia—that she graduated as valedictorian in 2009.
From there, she went on to the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania where she double-majored in Political Science and Russian Language, Culture and Literature. She also took jobs as research assistant in a think tank focused on Eastern Europe (Foreign Policy Research Institute), as a business analyst at Shearman & Sterling in New York, and as a paralegal in the family violence and sexual assault unit of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office.
“The skills I learned so early at Sedona Charter School have been key to my ability to work independently and take on complex or loosely drawn projects from start through completion,” says Hannah.
Now she is completing her law degree at Vanderbilt Law School in Nashville, Tennessee, with plans to go into policy law, such as government regulations or land development law. “I’m drawn to this type of law because of the intersection between law and politics – I would like a career that contributes to the community and also falls within my educational interests,” she says.