Contact: Jenni Brockman
Telephone: 804-443-3357
Fax: 413-639-3999
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
At St. Margaret's School, "Daughters to Work Day"
Measures Progress, Charts Challenges
This year's "Take Our Daughters to Work Day" offers advocates for girls and young women a chance to take measure of progress that has been made on behalf of gender equity, while mapping strategy to overcome lingering challenges.
"The decade just ended has been one of enormous progress for girls and women," said Margaret R. Broad, headmistress of St. Margaret's School. "As a result, we enter the 21st century feeling energized, and excited by the new opportunities that lie ahead."
Varsity basketball scorekeeper Alexes Anderson (pictured), a senior boarding student, interned with a St. Margaret's School Alumna, Marilyn Williams '71, for her Independent Study Project this winter. She worked at Ms. Williams' office in East Falls Church while learning the ins and outs of social work, a profession which Alexes now intends to pursue after college.
That sense of energy and excitement is part of the theme for "Take Our Daughters to Work Day," celebrated this year on Thursday, April 27. Now in its eighth year, TODTWD was created by the Ms. Foundation for Women to connect girls and young women with mentors in the workplace. That's a value girls' schools recognize; a recent study by Goodman Research Group found that nearly half of all girls' school alumnae had workplace mentors.
"This year, girls and young women are achieving great things in fields where barriers once prevented their involvement," said Mrs. Broad. "Math and science are two examples where we have seen a real narrowing of gender gaps. Now our successes are great motivators as we turn our attention to new challenges, such as financial literacy and the challenges posed by the new global economy."
The National Coalition of Girls' Schools, of which St. Margaret's is a member, is an official endorsing organization for this year's TODTWD. Through its membership in the Coalition, St. Margaret's is helping to sponsor a major symposium scheduled for September 2000, titled Girls, Women & Money: Financial Empowerment for the 21st Century. The conference will bring together over 2,000 leaders in finance, business, education, and community development, to learn new ways of ensuring that girls and women have the skills they need to make the sort of smart financial decisions necessary to success in the modern world.
Preparing girls and young women for success in college, career, and the world of adulthood is a common theme at St. Margaret's. On TODTWD, students will expand upon alumnae-student and parent-student mentor relationships already established like Alexes Andereson who spent her senior Independent Study Project working in social work with Marilyn Williams, a 1971 St. Margaret's graduate. Alexes, a boarding student from Silver Springs, Md., assisted Ms. Williams for three weeks (2/27-3/5) at Ms. William's office in East Falls Church. Learning the ins and outs of the profession she now intends to pursue after college, Alexes comments, "I had a great time working with Ms. Williams. My internship helped me find a focus for my college studies; also it gave me the job experience necessary to decide that I want to continue in this field."
"Achievement is something we address every day of the year, not just on this particular day," Mrs. Broad said. "Our curriculum and teaching methods are designed from the ground up to empower and inspire our girls. So Take Our Daughters to Work Day is one more opportunity to fulfill our mission."
