As we celebrate Mother’s Day today- I wanted to look back on an event we had at the Walter P.J. Gilefski Media Center that really stood out. On March 8th we held an International Women’s Day Panel thanks to the assistance of Joy Conway’s Community in Schools.

I do have to tell you how necessary this was. I can attest there are some very talented young ladies in our school that are being raised without mother’s in title, but raised by grandmothers, aunts, extended families, and individuals serving as mothers, not by blood, but their mother in every step of the word.

There are many young ladies that need the encouragement because they have the ability. This blog post does not do the day we had for these ladies justice. The panel was powerful, positive, and they were all testaments to what is possible when you realize your potential.

Everyone that was a part of this panel had a courageous and powerful journey. It has taken us awhile to put the audio from this podcast together, and does not do justice to how powerful this was for the young ladies in attendance. We apologize ahead of time for the spots that are difficult to hear, but we agreed as the students listened, it is important to hear as the questions of how to succeed, how to have your voice heard, how to awake the ream you have of a business is real. Many of these young ladies left this day in tears because they were receiving encouragement for their dreams and being given advice on how to grab their dreams, and not remain put down.

It is vital to realize how many young women rely on groups like Community in Schools, as well as female role models that can carry their dreams to fruition. Not that male role models cannot help them as well, but please realize as a community, in order for our students to be empowered, we need to guide them to the resources they need and guide the to the resources that will empower them.

While we are disappointed in the quality of the podcast recording- we felt in necessary to include as much if this as possible to let you in on the powerful advice this panel was able to provide to these young ladies. This is part 1 of the segment, as we work through the remaining segments of this podcast from our International Women’s Day Panel held on March 8th at Woodbridge High School.