Education through action

The 18-year-old from Portola Valley has volunteered in a variety of ways. But it was working with students at Adelante Elementary School, a Spanish-immersion school in Redwood City, that introduced the Woodside High School senior to her future profession of teaching.

"Ellen has only been in leadership one year, but she has made a strong impact. She is the lead of a new committee called philanthropy,” said Activities Director Leslie With. "The students really wanted to make a difference outside of school. Through Ellen’s hard work, Woodside held a shoe drive in November and donated over 100 pairs of shoes to St. Anthony’s. After the earthquake in Haiti, Ellen organized a coin drive and raised approximately $1,000 which was donated to Partners in Health. ... Ellen is a wonderful student who excels at everything. What is best about her is that she is very down to earth and extremely friendly.”

Ingebritsen, the second of three girls, was born in Redwood City. Her family moved to Portola Valley when she was a toddler. She was outdoorsy, playing various sports like basketball, volleyball, softball and soccer. Soccer turned out to be her forte.

Ingebritsen joined a club soccer team, Alpine FC, in elementary school. The team has traveled to various states, and Ingebritsen guested with another team a couple summers back to travel to Europe. In addition, Ingebritsen has played on the varsity team at Woodside all four years.

Moving from the smaller schools in the Portola Valley Elementary School District to Woodside took time for Ingebritsen. She quickly noticed the wide variety of people and interests, which allowed her to be exposed and explore that same variety of interests.

From the start, Ingebritsen joined the Octagon club, a community service club. One of the presentations to the group on ways to give back was for the Canyon House in Menlo Park. Since then, Ingebritsen has visited about once a week volunteering with patients living with Alzheimer’s disease. Normally she helps with art class.  

For some time, Ingebritsen planned to become a doctor. A summer internship allowed Ingebritsen to get hands-on experience with molecular biology doing test work. That’s when Ingebritsen realized biology wasn’t her thing.

When it came to choosing classes for her senior year, Ingebritsen wasn’t interested in taking another Spanish class. She had heard of opportunities to get credit by helping others. She petitioned the district and was allowed to go to Adelante working with fifth grade students every other day.

It was while working with the students that Ingebritsen learned she likes teaching.

"It’s really rewarding, I always look forward to it,” she said.

Ingebritsen, one of Woodside’s valedictorians, joined leadership her senior year overseeing philanthropic activities like a shoe drive or fundraising for Haiti.

This fall, Ingebritsen will attend Amherst College, in Massachusetts. Since it is a liberal arts college, Ingebritsen has not yet decided what she’ll study but has an interest in history, international relations and psychology.

The Woodside High School graduation is 10 a.m. Friday, June 4 on campus. Tickets will only be required if it’s raining.

Great Grads is in its fifth year profiling one graduating senior from each of our local schools. Schools have the option to participate. Those that choose to participate are asked to nominate one student who deserves recognition.

Heather Murtagh can be reached by e-mail: heather@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 105.