The Academy pays tribute to women

In honour of International Women’s Day on March 8th, Senior School faculty Michelle Massaro and Afeera Maryam organised events at the Academy celebrating what it means to be a woman and highlighting the problems that women face.

The duo got members of staff and students to take pledges to foster gender equality in their daily lives and through their work. Teachers, students and admin held up cards with their pledges on them and posed for pictures. Afeera noted that boys participated in the event, highlighting the inclusive nature of the movement. “It is important to create awareness that may lead to empowerment,” she said.

Some students and staff held placards with words that described their brand of femininity, pointing out that women don’t need to ascribe to society's definition of womanhood. Among the adjectives listed were “fierce”, “courageous”, “brave”, and “loving”. Michelle and Afeera, strong advocates of women’s empowerment, put together clips of women calling out their chosen words in a video tribute to the cause. Click here to see the video!

Using images from the pledges and the video, Michelle and Afeera made a collage forming the International Women’s Day logo. The collage was displayed at the Commons. Also at the commons, a special lunch menu was created for the occasion, accompanied by a girl-power playlist that played through lunch, featuring songs by powerful women musicians. 

Gender equality is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN. Conversations about gender issues are critical today, especially for students who will grow up to occupy leadership positions. We congratulate Michelle and Afeera for their initiative.