[ot-caption title=”Rachel Auslander and Laylah Cupertino, a speaker from UNICEF, educate the high school on girls in developing countries. (via, Ava Goldstone, Junior)”]

On October 11, Pine Crest hosted Day of the Girl. The high school students spent the half-day talking about women’s rights both domestically and internationally. The day began with an assembly of the entire high school, and then students broke down into smaller, more specific discussion groups before returning to Stacy auditorium to conclude the day.  [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

The first assembly was an introduction to feminism by the President of the Gender Equality Club. Rachel Auslander and some other representatives of the Gender Equality Club shared information on specific aspects of inequality women face such as the wage gap, child marriage, and everyday sexism.  Students then enjoyed an inspiring video about Malala Yousafzai, the youngest person ever to win a Nobel peace prize; Yousafzai spoke out against the Taliban and fights for girls’ rights to education. Next, Mr. Curran spoke about his experiences in Kenya while he was a part of the peace corps. As a teacher for an all girls school near Mombasa for three years, Mr. Curran had a tremendous amount of insight to share about girls in the developing world.  [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

After the assembly, students broke off into small groups dedicated to discussing specific topics pertinent to women such as STEM, politics, refugees, and sexism.  These discussions were led by students with a teacher involved to moderate and guide the conversation. After, students returned to Stacy auditorium where representatives of each small group shared what they had learned from their experience. To conclude the day, Laylah Copertino, a speaker from UNICEF, informed everyone on what UNICEF is and how it is changing the world. She successfully brought the lessons learned throughout the day together to engage and inform the student body. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

Overall, Pine Crest’s celebration of the International Day of the Girl was both inspiring and enlightening to many students. Hank Ingum, a sophomore shares his excitement.

“I wish there could have been a whole day devoted to this topic rather than a mere half,” Hank said.

Students were able to learn about something new and become more aware of a timely global topic. The Gender Equality Club, Mr. Fitzpatrick, and all the teachers who helped out made the inaugural Pine Crest Day of the Girl go off smoothly. Many students hope that this will become a tradition for years to come. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]