Through the Women’s AP US History (WAPUSH), students at SHP are working to establish the first nationwide course on women’s history. They are recording oral histories and building materials that will serve as primary sources for an AP course in women’s history. While previous Heartbeat coverage has documented WAPUSH’s growth, these opportunities highlight student participation.
“The history of WAPUSH goes back around…10 years. More than that, even 12,” explains Kristin Kelly, a Social Studies teacher and co-founder of Women’s History in High School. “The original intent [was] to push women into AP World, AP U.S., AP Government. And then when we got there, we were like, ‘These standalone stories…[are their] own course… These are so incredible.'”
What sets WAPUSH apart, Kelly says, is how it was created: “It is the only time that its teachers and students up and not scholars down, creating an AP course. So we wrote it… It’s published. It’s peer reviewed… We modeled the journey after AP African American Studies on how to launch and write an AP course.”
The initiative relies heavily on student contributions, particularly through oral history projects. Serene Williams, Social Studies teacher and co-founder of Women’s History in High School, says, “We have a really amazing interview project going on where students interview women who made history, or scholars… and then these transcriptions are going to become primary sources. Once the course gets piloted, these will be primary source documents for things like DBQs and stimulus-based SAQs.”
Lucy Irvine ’27, a member of the newly created National Women’s History Alliance Youth Advisory Board (NWHA YAB), says “I have taken on many roles in WAPUSH. I was a participating student in the pilot class last year… I’ve been on one archive visit with Ms. Williams and Ms. Kelly. Serving as the event committee chair has been a beneficial experience so far… it has shaped my high school experience immensely and only served to reaffirm my love of and commitment to uplifting women’s history.”
For many students, WAPUSH offers the opportunity for leadership and voice. “WAPUSH has been a really important space on campus for female students to feel like they have a voice,” Brooke Soderbery ‘26 says. “Over the years, I’ve watched people really find their voices and find success… we’re all finding accessible ways we can make change.”
Regarding the current status of the AP course, Soderbery says, “One of the things we’re doing right now [is] coordinating a big group of interns across the country to get enough letters” saying they’ll pilot the class — the campaign needs to get 250 letters to pilot. These efforts “give you [the] experience of what it means to work towards a goal and towards justice,” says Soderbery. During this experience, “I realized I really like to… channel my energy toward taking action and WAPUSH introduced me to that world. I got so much exposure to professional historians [and] people in the women’s studies. I got to go to all these conferences with the American Historical Association, listen to people talk about their research and their advocacy.”
Williams highlights the long-term impact on students: “Our students have done such incredible work… It’s been a really great opportunity for students that are passionate about religious issues, feminism, and social justice to get involved locally here, but then also to get involved in national groups.
