Meet Brookline's 2019 Woman Of The Year: Lihua Shorter

BROOKLINE, MA — The woman responsible for making sure students across the high school don't have homework the night before Lunar New Year, Brookline High School's Lihua Shorter is the 2019 Brookline Woman of the Year, the Brookline Commission for Women announced. Shorter is a Chinese language instructor in the high school's World Languages Department. She is also an adviser for the Asian Pacific American Club and helps coordinate the school's China-exchange program each year along with Fu-Tseng Chang.

Also, as anyone who knows her will tell you, she's the real deal: She helped grow the Chinese-language program from two classes when she was hired in 1997 to nine full classes and is even referred to affectionately as "mom" by some of her students.

Glowing reviews for her on the rate my teacher website go back to 2003, with students commenting on her ability to bond with them, to make learning a new language fun and to tell a joke. Some 31 students over 16 years rated her an average of 4.58 stars out of five on the website, which notes the average rating for a teacher at Brookline High is 4.1.

Headmaster Anthony Meyer said he wasn't surprised at Shorter's latest recognition.

"Lihua Shorter is just an incredible gift to all of her students and our entire school community she has high expectations for everyone who comes into contact with and then lovingly and firmly guides them to meet those expectations," said Headmaster Anthony Meyer. "She's just a lovely, loving educator."

World Languages Director Agnès Albérola, who works with Shorter, said she wasn't surprised either.

"Her award is so well deserved," said Albérola. "I think her impact on the Brookline community has been really huge ever since she started working here, in 1997."

Her colleague said it's plain to see that Shorter helps build a strong sense of community with her students.

"Some have Asian American history, but maybe never fully embraced their heritage. She puts it in a context where people feel very proud," she said. "If you ask students who have been in her class? They say it really felt like they were becoming visible."

In addition to giving a sense of presence and pride to students of Asian Pacific and Asian American heritage, she helps put together a lunar new year festival at school and around town. After a trip to Taiwain she came back with a presentation for folks at the Brookline Public Library.

"You see kids juggling and dancing and playing music. Some is modern some is more traditional, families come and everybody is super excited about it," said Albérola. "She's just an amazing person and someone who you would never know does so much because she would never try to shine a light on it ... She's a lot of fun, too."

Shorter is very active with special education and has helped teach the importance of inclusion wherever she goes, according to Albérola.

On March 21, at Brookline Public Library's Hunneman Hall, the commission celebrated Shorter, as well as 12 students who won essay contests about a woman who inspires them in honor of Women's Month.

In 2014, the Brookline Education Foundation presented Shorter with the Charlie Baker Legacy Award, a grant meant to encourage professional development in the areas of U.S. history and world geography. Shorter proposed to examine how the then-new China-Taiwan relationship impacted the region economically, culturally and politically. She traveled to the island and then presented her findings at the Brookline Public Library.

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Got a news tip? Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).