OIEJB Update: Women's History Month 2025

Welcome to Women’s History Month!

This year’s theme, according to The National Women’s History Alliance, celebrates “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations.” The website also offers this toolkit that is relevant to teachers planning classroom activities or parents/guardians looking to support their children.

History
When President Jimmy Carter declared the Week of March 8th, 1980 as National Women’s History Week, he wrote a proclamation that read in part:

“From the first settlers who came to our shores…men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.”

By 1987, through a series of bipartisan Congressional partnerships and resolutions, what began as a week expanded to the entire month when Congress declared March National Women’s History Month.

On-Campus Celebration
At SSFS, we will celebrate as we always do with a variety of engagements for students intended to spark learning and discussion. In the Lower School, the celebration will include ongoing grade-level leadership in the Lower School Community Art Project: building on 1st-grade’s success in educating their peers about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott for Black History Month, 4th-grade will take the lead as the community learns about sculptor Louise Nevelson, a Jewish woman born in the Russian Empire and what is now Kyiv, Ukraine. Nevelson is known for her monumental, monochromatic, wooden wall pieces and outdoor sculptures, even though she had to fight and navigate a male-dominated professional market. 

In the Middle School, curriculum-enriching materials will be offered to teachers; the bulletin board will offer profiles of women who made significant contributions to history, and more! 

Slides shown on screens in and around the Upper School will feature profiles of change-making women throughout history, and an advisory quiz will feature both information from the slides and an opportunity for students to reflect on the inspirational women around them.

Please join SSFS and the National Women's History Alliance this month in celebrating “the collective strength and influence of women who have dedicated their lives to education, mentorship, and leadership. Through their efforts, they have served as an inspiration for all generations — both past and present.”

(source: https://nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org/womens-history-month/womens-history-month-history/)