Upper School students gathered around the Elliot Center on March 5 for the annual celebration of International Women’s Day.
Celebrated on March 8, International Women’s Day recognizes the achievements of women across different fields. On this day, people shed light on influential women, attend rallies for gender equality and educate their communities about women’s impact throughout history.
Led by Upper School History Department Chair Amy Bresie, the event featured student-led presentations about influential women and interactive crafts. Bresie says her goal was to spread joy and educate people about International Women’s Day.
“I hope people leave understanding that feminism is the true belief in the equality of all people and genders,” Bresie said. “I also hope they leave feeling affirmed and positive with a smile on their face.”
The event kicked off with student presenters from Bresie’s Women’s History class, who shared their women of valor presentations. These presentations were crafted in class, where students wrote about women they believed deserved recognition.
“It was really interesting hearing about the different stories and how so many women are overshadowed by male figures in history,” senior Andrew Cai said.
Student presenters such as junior Chloe LaGrone spoke about Japanese novelist Murasaki Shikibu while others like junior Myra Puri spotlighted USA Olympic gymnast Simon Biles.
“I think celebrating what people did in class and seeing how it transfers into real world events proves [that] we are learning about real problems,” LaGrone said.
The presentations were met with attentive listening from the audience and ended with respectful applause.
“I think the mood was celebratory as everyone there was interested and wanted to learn more in the event,” Cai said.
Following the presentations, the focus shifted to craft activities stationed throughout the tables.
“The four stations were feminism coloring pages, designing your own women of valor doll, writing affirming cards and quilt making,” Bresie said. “We as women should take a minute and feed our own souls through craftivism and self-care activities.”
The event wrapped up with final rounds of celebratory cookies as students reflected over their takeaways.
“After this event I will be more aware that women are being pushed to the side and some men are taking up spotlight that’s undeserved,” Cai said.
The International Women’s Day event at Greenhill showed students the importance of recognizing women voices both historically and today.
“Honoring women reminds us that equality is not just about acknowledging societies past mistreatments, rather it’s about making sure women’s voices now are recognized,” Puri said.
