Juli-Anne Sarji '24
International Women’s Day took place on March 8, 2023. It was a day dedicated to celebrating women worldwide, as well as women in our own Fontbonne community.
The day started off with students reporting to their FAs for about half an hour in which they watched a video on Women’s Day, had a bagel breakfast provided by the International Women’s Day committee, and looked over their customized brochures to see what activities would be happening. Students with their FAs began reporting to the Gym for an opening assembly, in which we heard an intro of how the day would go.
We then heard from our first guest speaker, Christina Faraj ‘12, an Emmy-nominated director and a two-time Oscar-winning artist who has worked at Pixar Animation Studios for the past six years as a Sets Technical Director. She spoke about her job and some well-known movies she’s contributed to such as Soul, Incredibles 2, and Coco. After her speech, students were able to ask her questions about how it is to work on set, who inspired her to do her job, and who are the women in her life that most inspire her the most.
After Christina Faraj’s inspirational speech, students were told to look at their brochures to find what group they were in and what would be the first activity and room they would be going to. A student’s brochure contained one guest speaker of their choice, a presentation and activity on Equity vs. Equality, and a Blooming with Confidence activity.
In the Blooming with Confidence Activity, students were able to draw whatever they wanted or what meant the most to them on large paper petals, and then they were put together to form a flower. These flowers were then hung up in the foyer to display all the student’s work.
Olivia Bodnar ‘23 spoke about how she really enjoyed International Women’s Day emphasizing, “I thought International Women’s Day was great. It’s the best Women’s Day I have ever experienced. I really liked Mr. H’s brochures because it was evident that he put time and effort into personalizing them for each student. He made it so organized that everyone was able to get where they needed to be in a timely manner.”
After all three stations were visited, they reported back to the gym for the rest of the assembly. On the projector, an amazing video of inspirational women in our society such as Michelle Obama, Mother Theresa, Joan of Arc, etc., and students, teachers, friends, and family were displayed. This video was nicely created by Anaya Qayyum ‘24.
To end the day, we heard from our guest poet, Armani Meza ‘22, who read a poem called “For Teenage Girls with Wild Ambitions and Trembling Hearts” by Clementine von Radics. It was truly an inspiring poem and the way it was spoken truly made an impact on all the faculty and staff listening.
Samantha Soued ‘24, one of the students on the International Women’s Day Committee stated, “Being on the Women's Day Committee was an amazing experience. The alumnae that visited were all so impressive. I was smiling all day because of how inspiring the day really was. I am happy that I was a part of the event. I have so much respect for the other women on the committee - Ms. Connolly pushed us all to be our best. Allie's singing was breathtaking, and Anaya's video was inspiring. It was really a group effort.”
Overall, International Women’s Day this year was truly amazing and it would not have been possible without all the teachers and student part of the Women’s Day committee, all our guest speakers, and all the women in our lives who have inspired us to be our best selves.
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