Darwin High School celebrates International Women's Day
On Wednesday 8 March the Stage 2 Women’s Studies class hosted a highly successful morning tea for invited guests and dignitaries in order to celebrate International Women’s Day 2017. The students all had the opportunity to ask one person to come who had supported their choice of subject or who had an interest in and acknowledgement of women’s issues.
The Hon. Natasha Fyles MLA and the Hon. Lauren Moss MLA, both alumni of Darwin High School, attended the function and spoke with students, parents, friends, staff and Board members. The Hon. Natasha Fyles MLA opened the event with words of encouragement for those students wanting to enter politics or become involved in their community in other ways. She also expressed not only her willingness, but that of other Cabinet members, to be invited back to spend time speaking with students about issues relevant to them
The guest speaker, Dr Suzanne Belton from Menzies School of Health delivered an inspiring and informative speech which addressed this year’s theme Women in the Changing World of Work. She gave a brief and intriguing history of the concept of International Women’s Day and contextualised the ways in which work has changed in the intervening years from the first IWD in 1909. One of the many important points she made was –
Perhaps as you grow up you will see these all of these things [promotion, pay, leadership opportunities, childcare, health] change for the better. But you firstly need to know that there is a problem before you can fix it. Explore the facts for yourselves and build alliances with men who will support gender equity and justice for women.
The event was an excellent way to encourage student discussion about gender equality, opportunities for engaging them with many members of the broader community and to take the time to think about what Women’s Studies means to them. The class outdid themselves in terms of organisation, decoration and preparation – the morning tea looked and tasted incredible!
While we thank all the people who took up the invitation to attend, special thanks goes to Jackie Dupe, Yashodara Pridham, Erin Crook, Daisy Andrews and Penny Beissbarth for ensuring that everything went smoothly.
