International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day has been celebrated on March 8th every year since 1911. It’s one day in the year in which everybody in the world celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.

At MCS, we have been learning about different women who have made a difference. The Ninth Grade students, along with their teacher Mrs. Edith Fadul, have been researching and writing about these women, discovering their impact in today's society, and taking a moment to commemorate their amazing achievements.

These are just a few:

Oprah Winfrey

By Amalia Vargas

9th Grader

Oprah Winfrey is a leading American actress and businesswoman who hosts “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. She used the show as a platform to teach and inspire, giving viewers a positive and uplifting experience, featuring book clubs, interviews, self-improvement segments, and forays into events around the world. She has become one of the most influential women in the US. 

Winfrey is considered a role model to many because of her charity work, her schools, and her true relationships with her fans. Winfrey stands out among many people in her ability to empathize and help those people get through their troubling times. She established 60 schools in 13 countries, supported women's shelters, created scholarships, and funded over 200 homes through Habitat for Humanity.

In conclusion, Oprah is a very inspirational and empathetic person who has helped numerous amount of people truly find themselves, and motivated others to start helping the ones in need. As a young woman, Oprah has demonstrated to me that one can achieve anything if you are actually willing to, and that “Anything you imagine, you can create” by believing in yourself.

Anne Frank

By Lucas Ostropolsky

9th Grade

Anne Frank, was a German-Dutch girl that represents bravery, patience, and someone that brings light to the darkness. She was 13 years old when she hid from the Nazis that were killing Jews, so, being a Jew, she hid very well and started to narrate everything in her life for the past 25 months. She is recognized because of the diary she wrote while hiding and how her book made an impact on the world.

Anne Frank wrote a diary in which she narrates her life on her 25-month journey hiding from the nazis, but why is she so important? This is because we can see her bravery to hide and the patience to hide for that long and the way she wanted equality for everyone. Also, she proved that in every bad moment, a joke can take place because in her diary we can see how she did dirty jokes even though the nazis were looking for her, so she proved that she is actually important to show her bravery and intelligence.

Additionally, we can see she wrote about her life aspirations and her future, which never became true because they found her and killed her, which shows that some stories do have bad endings, also this diary proves, even more, the horrible things the Nazis did to the Jews just because of their religion. 

In conclusion, Anne Frank is a person we can look up to because of her intelligence, bravery, optimistic way of living, and her beautiful way of writing. In life, we need to start to be more optimistic.

Princess Diana

By Mariel Guerra and

9th Grade

Princess Diana, an international icon was born on the 1st of July 1961 in Norfolk. She was a trendsetter, not only fashion-wise but also because she was an activist way ahead of her time. Many people know Princess Diana as an incredible fashion icon, but I’m here to tell you that she was important for so much more than just her incredible sense of style.

Princess Diana was an advocate and humanitarian particularly interested in helping people in shelters, especially battered women and children. As a matter of fact, during her marriage to Prince Charles, she served as President of over a hundred charities focused on helping children and the homeless. For example, according to “historic newspapers”, she was the leader of organizations that had to do with battling poverty, and homelessness, banning the use of landmines, as well as other organizations and she was just generally in favor of changing our society for the better.

She was actually one of the first public figures to address the issue of HIV/AIDS and created changes regarding leprosy. She looked so happy while helping others when she did charity for those who really needed it. She set an example for many people all over the world, and she made sure to counteract beliefs in the world that were popular in her time but aren’t considered okay nowadays.

To me, Princess Diana is a role model, who even though is no longer with us, changed the world and flipped judgmental ideas around to create a more prosperous planet. Moreover, she was an inspiration for girls all over the world because she made them realize that you can do so much good and feel genuinely content with the satisfaction helping others brings. She also made girls understand their worth when throughout her life, she did what was best for her, even if those decisions were tough to make. Princess Diana was such an important activist who was passionate about helping those around her whenever she could.

In conclusion, Princess Diana was known for her impeccable sense of fashion, activism, and charitable work, but she used her fame to raise awareness about diseases, illnesses, domestic violence, and even mental health. She helped the sick and the poor despite her own personal problems while still prioritizing her family. Princess Diana said: “I lead from the heart, not the head.”. In my opinion, this means that she will give love to everyone, along with trying to make the world a better place by taking care of others instead of only doing what's good for her and her family. I believe that these are very important words that have a powerful meaning, they should be taken into consideration by every leader in the future who has the purpose of leading with pride and sympathy like her.

Kamala Harris

By Maria Paula López

9th Grade

Kamala Harris, an important woman figure and a great representative for women of color. Even for immigrants. Since little, Kamala Harris has been aware that the road to racial justice was hard and long. She often has spoken on her campaign of those who have come before her, of her parents, immigrants drawn to the civil rights struggle in the United States, and of the ancestors who have ‘paved the way'.

After her rise to the vice presidency, Kamala Harris has become the first woman and first woman of color to hold the office. This has become a milestone for a nation in disruption, in the struggle of a harsh history of racial injustice. Ms. Harris embodies the future of a country that is growing more racially diverse. In her victory speech, she spoke of her mother and the generations of women of all races who have made progress along the way for this moment to arrive. She said the following words; “While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last, because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.” Representative Pramila Jayapal, Democrat of Washington said the following about Ms. Harris, “She understands what it means to be the child of immigrants. What it means to be a person of color seeking racial justice.”

I believe Kamala Harris is just one of many more women who will stand like she does. That will bring justice to us women and those of color. Who will represent us in many ways and show our strength to the world? Ms. Harris has done the first step for us and has made an impact on the world and on women. This will encourage other women to do what she's done and to let the world see that a woman is capable of anything.

Queen Elizabeth I

By Francisco Feliz

9th Grade

Queen Elizabeth I or also known as “The Virgin Queen” daughter of  Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn came to reign in 1558. This Queen had a certain trait that makes her stand apart from all the Queens in England as her surname says, she was a virgin until the day of her death. It wasn’t because she was ugly or because people never saw her, in fact, she received several propositions, King Frederick II, and King Eric XIV of Sweden were some examples of the pretenders she had, nonetheless, she rejected all of them. In addition, she was a great ruler, she succeeded in protecting England and its territories, and she was also religiously tolerant which was something rare for the time. This exemplifies the independence of Queen Elizabeth I. She didn’t need a man by her side to rule England, and she could run the country effectively. She stood firmly with that policy until the day she died.

In conclusion Queen Elizabeth I, was a woman who could take the role of men, the role of Queen, and could do everything that Kings could and even better without the help of any men. 

Serena Williams

By Miguel Gadala-María

9th Grade

Serena Williams is the representation of black empowerment…

She was the first black tennis player of all time, her goal was to follow her goal, but also to encourage black people, not to be afraid to show their skin. If you didn't know in 1990 tennis was basically a white sport you didn't see black tennis players at the time. In 1995, when Williams was in the ninth grade, her father pulled his daughters out of Macci's academy and took over all coaching at their home. Serena was so passionate about her goal that she wouldn't let anything stop her from achieving it. But she wasn't very happy with this decision. She wanted to go pro as soon as possible, but her dad did not agree to that…

After doing what her dad said, she kept trying to convince him of changing his opinion by letting her go pro. After more practicing and a lot of studies, Serena kept trying and trying until she got what she wanted… but after getting even better and better at tennis she started playing in important tournaments and games, and also showing people that being black is not a disadvantage in life that tennis is also a black sport and showing people to not be afraid, but to be brave. 

Then she continued to play and get better until she went pro, she is the first black tennis player that went pro. Her dad was hugely proud of her. 

Harriet Tubman

By Jade Mei Cheaz

9th Grade

While I searched for an important woman to write about, I thought about writing about someone I already knew about, but I was curious and looked up somebody I didn’t know; I’m glad I did. Tubman is somebody which I look up to now that I know more about her.

According to WomensHistory.com, Tubman was known as “Moses of her people”, this is because she helped a lot of people get freedom and break free from enslavement. Harriet Tubman was born into an enslaved family with 8 siblings. She was enslaved, abused and rented as a domestic servant at an early age, despite this, she later managed to escape and even went back to help more people who were going through the same thing she did, if it weren't for her, a lot of people would've been kept enslaved and would've gotten the chance at freedom. 

In conclusion, I think that Tubman is one of the strongest people I've ever known, despite her past trauma of being a slave and being abused, once she escaped, she went back and helped people with the risk of getting caught never leaving anyone behind. She risked her life for the freedom of people being treated unfairly and I really admire that, and think that she should be talked about more often.

To wrap it up, if you are a woman, feel proud of what you are and how many of us have helped society. Happy International women’s day, ladies. You deserve it!