Mother Teresa once said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
Three fifth grade students – Parker Dill, Blaise Mayer, and Samylah Bryant – participated in their Fifth Grade Exhibition at Chestnut Hill School, MA where they educated their community on the importance of women’s empowerment.
The Fifth Grade Exhibition is as an assessment-based event required by the International Baccalaureate Program. For the Exhibition, students must research, investigate, and prepare a presentation on a subject of their own choice. According to Midland Daily News, “The Exhibition requires students to engage in a collaborative inquiry process that involves them identifying, investigating and offering solutions to real-life issues or problems. It provides the platform for students to display the skills, attitudes and behaviors developed throughout their schooling experience in the program.”
Dill, Mayer, and Bryant chose to focus their presentation on women’s empowerment through music, paying special attention to the organizations Girls on the Run and YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region. Girls on the Run is a program that aims to help young girls feel more confident and “envisions a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams.”
The YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region’s Circles of Empowerment is a program that opens up a platform where businesswomen can generate new ideas. According to the website, the circle ensures that “women feel comfortable to live out passions with the strong support of empowered women around them.” The circles are also meant to “provide women with a space to feel empowered, courageous and supported to build opportunities for them to strive for personal and professional fulfillment.”
One of the fifth graders explained why she thought this was such an important issue to discuss, saying, “It is important that girls know that they can do anything they set their minds to; they just need to have self confidence and determination.” Parker Dill continued, saying, “There are great organizations that can help girls and women in our community, no matter their age.”
These three young girls are already on their way to making ripples of change in the world. As Dill says, “The best way to empower the next generation is to be a positive role model and show them the way.”
Featured Image by Peter Hershey on Unsplash
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Ingrid J Williams
June 24, 2017 at 9:38 am
Good for those young ladies. They are our future leaders,