International Women’s Day is a day that commemorates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. International Women’s Day was on March 8th, 2018.

Though some students around campus knew about the importance of the day and celebrated it, nothing was done on the school news website AmadorValleyToday or news show AVtv.

“I regret that I was not proactive, but I do believe that we need to take more action on empowering women to fight for the equality that they deserve.” said AVtv Editor-in-Chief Vi Nguyen.

International Women’s Day began in the late 1900s as a call for gender parity. March 8th is now the official day we recognize how far women rights have come and that this diverse world of women are all equal.

Despite the oversight by the AVJournalism class, girls all over Amador did celebrate the day.

“I celebrate national women’s day by recognizing all the amazing women in my life. I think this holiday is so important because it shows the importance of the roles women play in everyday life!” said Mady Sweeney (20’).

“I celebrate this amazing holiday by telling my mom and sister how much they have empowered and inspire me more and more each day. I think it is important to celebrate this holiday because women still aren’t treated equally and it is important to all come together and unify.” Says Camryn Gray (20’).

Despite all the advances women have made over the years, women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts in most professions and women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics.

It wasn’t just the journalism class who failed to celebrate this day in school news. Not much else was done on campus to celebrate this day.  There were no posters or other events planned for the day. In a school where 50% of the students are women, this was surprising.

“International Women’s Day is such an important opportunity across the world for women to gain opportunities and a voice. The fact that we here at Amador didn’t take a more active role in encouraging our students to participate makes me feel disappointed in myself”, said AVJournalism Editor-in-Chief Cathrine Lilja.

However, great improvements have been made in this country and things continue to change.

For example, women can now choose to work, they can take care of their families, they can go into Universities, and they can vote.

“International Women’s Day needs to be celebrated not only to advocate rights of women in the United States but also to show solidarity to women overseas who are deprived of basic civil liberties. As the issues women face within the U.S., we are very fortunate compared to women in developing countries who are viewed as second-class citizens and stripped of their rights to education, free speech, how the dress, and what they do with their body. International women’s day should be a day where women of privilege fight for those women who are silenced on their own day!” Says Bella Huyler (‘19).

International Women’s day is celebrated around the world. From marching, to bringing awareness to women’s equality, to simply spending time with women who have made a difference, people celebrate this day in many different ways.

“I celebrate International Women’s Day by spending time with all my girls and reminding all the inspirational women around me and how important they are to me. It is such an important holiday because women need to remember how powerful they are!” said Mary Hinek (‘18).

“I definitely think we missed an opportunity to spread the word about the importance of this day. We get really busy in journalism class, but we need to remember what’s really important, especially in an industry that still seems to be dominated by men. If we can’t prioritize a celebration of women, we can’t expect others to do this. Next year, it will be very different,” said AVJournalism teacher Wendy Connelly.