Tess Piontkowski
Freshman
There has been a lot written in the press lately regarding gender differences, stereotyping, and the underrepresentation of women in certain industries and academic study. For example, Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, the Shriver Report by Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress and the NCHS Courant have addressed these issues. Recently, we have celebrated International Women’s Day (March 8th) and the Ban Bossy public service campaign has begun to empower girls to lead.
Last semester in Freshman English, I choose to read Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In for our book club unit. At the same time, I heard about the Wilburn Fellowship, whose mission is “to foster the understanding of humanity’s differences, whether of gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion or culture, such that those differences can be respected, learned from, embraced and celebrated.” Inspired by both the mission of the Fellowship and the words of Sheryl Sandberg, I applied and am a finalist. My project, Women in the Workforce Wednesday, is a luncheon open to students during all three lunch periods where I will interview a female speaker from the technology industry, who will then answer questions from attendees.
For this initial event, Laura Wallace, General Manager of Microsoft’s New York Metro Enterprise and Partner Group, will be speaking in the Teachers’ Lounge off the cafeteria on Wednesday, April 23rd. Attendees will gain insight into the speaker’s success, obstacles she faced in the process, academic decisions she made, and how her career path and experiences may have differed from that of men. Registration in the College and Career Center or through email will be required and lunch will be provided thanks to a Wilburn Fellowship stipend. Students can stop by during any one of their lunch periods or stay for all three.
Women in the Workforce Wednesday will spread awareness of gender differences in business and empower female students to consider academic and professional options that are often overlooked by girls. We can learn from each other’s experiences; the interview as well as question and answer period will send out important messages to the students that can positively influence their confidence, perceptions of themselves and other women, as well as future academic and career decisions.
To attend the luncheon on April 23rd, please look for the registration sign-up in the College and Career Center or email me. To join or for further information on the club, email me at tessa.piontkowski@ncps-k12.org. In addition, find and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NCHSWWWC.
