Ciara Graves ’16 recently became a Social Media & Marketing Strategist at Audius.
“As a WFS lifer, one of the most important lessons I learned was to be patient and listen. After graduating college in the height of the pandemic, the future felt unstable and unknown—especially when it came to following my dream of working in the music industry. While I don’t regularly have Meeting for Worship anymore, the practice of reflecting, taking time to sit with my thoughts, and remaining patient, is something that has served me during these last couple of years. Being able to ‘just listen’ to others, or even your own thoughts instead of immediately reacting to any work/life situation, is one of the most powerful tools.”
Ciara Graves ’16 graduated from Elon University in 2020 with her B.S. in Music Production and Recording Arts. During her time at Elon, Ciara was a member of the student-run record label called Limelight Records, performed in Elon’s electronic music ensemble called Techtronica, and studied abroad in Germany, Austria, and Hungary for Elon’s “Lives of the Great Composer’s program. Upon her graduation from Elon, Ciara continued her music education and studied Online Music Production at Icon Collective College of Music where she graduated in 2021 and was nominated for 2020 Student of the Year.
In July 2021, she began her career at Thrive Music as a Marketing Manager, focusing on social media and audience development strategy. Ciara made an immediate impact as she led the marketing campaigns for the single, “Do it To It (ACRAZE mix)” by ACRAZE. The song, which amassed over 12.2 billion global streams since its release in 2021, has 3.4 million videos created on TikTok using the song and received an award from iHeartRadio for “Best Dance Song of the Year” for 2021. For her outstanding work, Ciara received a gold record in 2022.
When asked to reflect on what she loves most about her work, Ciara states, “What I love the most about my job at Thrive Music is it allows me to work closely with the artists we sign to the label. Being able to play a role in fulfilling an artist’s creative vision is an absolute dream. Each day is not like the last, and I am lucky to spend my days developing creative marketing campaigns and working with some of the artists who I looked up to as a kid.”
Her advice to the Class of 2023? “The future can be intimidating and unknown, but it’s okay to not have it all figured out. Be patient in this process and enjoy the present because there’s always something new to learn.”
To learn more about Ciara, listen to her Quaker Matters podcast episode here.
Congratulations to Nora Abd El Kader ’27, Charlie Kurz ’27, Scarlett Murphy ’27, and Nya Parker ’27 for representing WFS at the 2026 Delaware Department of Transportation Bridge Competition held at Polytech High School!
Our 4th graders had a blast taking part in their annual “El Clásico” match as part of their study of Spain! “El Clásico,” which translates to “The Classic,” refers to the legendary rivalry between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, one of the most celebrated matchups in all of sports
Congratulations and bravo to our upper school student musicians who showcased their talents and entertained fellow students, faculty, and staff in last week's Chorale Showcase and Pops Concert!
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Home & School Engagement, Inclusion, and Belonging (EIB) Committee’s potluck! It was a wonderful evening filled with delicious dishes from around the world, fun games, and meaningful time together as a community.
Bravo to all of our 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade musicians who performed at our Middle School Spring Instrumental Concert, a part of our Spring Concert Series.
As part of our American History course curriculum, all 10th grade students visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. last week.
It was great to have so many grandparents and special friends join us at the lower school on Friday! They enjoyed partaking in classes, learning more about the school, and simply having fun with their student!
Wilmington Friends School students, who will participate in our QUEST Service Trip to Populonia, Italy, in June to work at an archaeological dig site, visited the Penn Museum in preparation for their trip.
Middle school Chinese teacher Jianglin Shi attended the Chinese Language Teachers Association Conference at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston.
Statement of Nondiscrimination as to Student Enrollment
Wilmington Friends School admits students of any race, color, gender, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students of these schools. Wilmington Friends School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, national and ethnic origin in administration of their educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school administered programs.