The Sisters in Stewardship program, hosted in Grier’s dance building, gives girls the opportunity to hear from educated, experienced women in a wide variety of fields. On Friday, January 16th, Senator Judy Ward and Monteca Confer Beisel gave Grier students a glimpse into their lives, highlighting the lessons and perspectives that built and shaped their careers.
Senator Judy Ward, had a wide variety of experiences to share. She served two terms in Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives, won a seat representing the 30th district in the Pennsylvania Senate in 2018, worked as a registered nurse, and owned a small business. Her advice was to “fill your cup with your friends and your sisterhood and leave yourself open to all sorts of opportunities.”
The importance of the Grier Sisters and Stewardship program begins with advice. These women have experienced life and hold many different perspectives, inspiring and encouraging Grier students.
For Meg Lewis, a senior who has attended every event so far, she has already implemented advice from an earlier speaker into her life. Lewis has been reflecting on this earlier series, where she was encouraged to simply keep going. “Lots of people have low self-esteem and they don’t believe in themselves,” said Lewis, “and so I think it’s important that we empower each other and that they helped empower me.”
For students such as Lewis, valuable lessons are lasting. Inspiration sparked at one series may stay with them for months or even years to come.
In Mya Beisel’s case, the empowering advice is never ending since she gets to have our next speaker as her mom. Mya’s mom, Monteca Confer Beisel grew up in the jewelry business, owns Confer’s Jewelers in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and is a Master Graduate Gemologist, a profession shared by fewer than 100 people worldwide. Beisel, who is very close to her mom, discussed some of the many ways her mother has inspired her. “My mom is my best friend,” Mya said. “She’s always been so honest with me about life and everything, and it’s really taught me how to handle myself and go through life as a woman.”
On Friday, Confer Beisel passed on advice she received when she, too, was only beginning her journey. “You never want to burn a bridge either,” she said. “You never want to treat someone badly or not hear them, because you’ll never know when they’ll show up in your life later.”
Confer Beisel’s talk definitely sparkled in the eyes of many students including 5th grader Maggie Peachey. “I loved hearing about all of the gems,” said Peachey. “I think it was really cool. That was probably my favorite part.”
Grier senior and passionate student in politics, Noa Stein, also took away powerful perspectives from the series. “I think just seeing the passion that other students brought into that as well as the answers that Senator Ward gave us really reaffirmed my belief that politics was right for me,” Stein said.
Many students at Grier hold deep passion in their beliefs, something that the school’s environment welcomes. The chance to engage with a state senator provided students, such as Stein, the opportunity to gain even more enthusiasm towards their political passions and future careers.
Senator Ward shared some of her political advice about working with people who have different perspectives. “They can have different opinions,” she said, “but if you’ve been fair, and you’ve listened to them, they’ll respect you.”
Similarly to the United States political environment, Grier is a widely diverse community of students that sometimes don’t agree on everything. However, by listening and respecting each other, Grier students keep themselves open to a vast range of opinions.
Stein, like many others, valued this opportunity to speak with a state representative. “I really think that this speaker series gave me an opportunity, as well as some other students, to engage in respectful, civil discourse, where we brought up issues that we genuinely cared about,” said Stein.
The freedom to ask questions is something that students at Grier take advantage of. They consistently prepare thoughtful, detailed questions and ask them to a wide range of powerful women. For the speakers, it can be fulfilling to hear students’ genuine interest expressed. “I thought the questions the girls asked were very informative and well thought out,” said Confer Beisel. “I was very impressed by that.”
Attending the speaker series is undoubtedly important if a student is interested in the same field as the speaker. On Friday, this was shown through the political passion embedded in many students’ questions.
These series offer value to all students though, since some like Peachey get the chance to find new interests that they may have never considered before—like diving into the world of gems and precious metals. “It’s important [to attend the series] so you can see multiple points of views,” said 9th grader Lydia Heller who is a regular attendee.
Mya Beisel expanded on the value of the series regardless of future career. “The questions we ask aren’t always related to that specific field of study,” Beisel explained. “It’s just about women who have gone through life and how they can help us navigate it too.”
Staying open to new opportunities is a skill many girls at Grier have perfected—they engage in new passions through a wide range of sports and activities. Additionally, by listening to experienced women in multiple fields, Grier students open even more doors. However, just as Beisel said, the importance extends beyond discovering new fields of study; outside of career advice, these speaker series allow for eye-opening life discoveries and meaningful knowledge about the world.
Ms. Dunklebarger • Feb 3, 2026 at 7:22 am
Thank you for sharing this well-written summary of the last speaker series event. It was really great that you shared opinions from both the speakers and the students. Well done!