What started out as a singular dedicated day, March 8, to celebrate women, blossomed into a month dedicated wholly to women. Today women are a federally protected class due to the injustices they faced historically. In schools, history teachers may teach lessons about important historical women like Eleanor Roosevelt or Rosa Parks. Women are celebrated and honored for their contributions to society and culture. 

But what about at Glen Rock High School? I went around and asked one teacher from each department in the high school about what Women’s History Month means to them.

“Women have been treated as second class citizens. We haven’t had full citizenship, up until 1972. We weren’t allowed to open up our own credit cards. People who were writing history missed a huge portion of it, so, therefore, we have to have a month to turn around and inform people of how important all of that history is.” – Ms. Walter, Glen Rock historian and US history teacher

“When I think about Women’s History Month, I think about my family. My grandmother was the first woman in our family to go to college. My mom graduated early from college. I feel like they paved the way for me to be able to explore something I’m interested in.” – Ms. Wetchler, AP English Literature and 11th grade English teacher

“I think women’s history month is about recognizing that women took a backseat for a very long time, and some laws didn’t change until recently. And it’s recognizing that we have fought to get equal rights as men, and many women still don’t. Legally, we do, but we still don’t. My mother worked in a male dominated field for many years, and her salary was far less than the men that she worked side by side with. So I think it’s recognizing that we worked really hard to get to where we are today.” – Ms. Cozzarelli, Art Teacher 

“I think it’s important to share a perspective that might not have been shared before, again, back to being the first female principle. I think that we have a lot of female administrators in the district that people might not be aware of. We have three elementary principals, many of our supervisors, our director of Special Services, our director of Student Personnel Services, are all women. So it is actually very exciting to be a part of a team of very strong women who work hard and get the job done.” – Mrs. Giurlando, Glen Rock High School Principal

“Never sell yourself short, always make sure that you are putting in that 100% effort. There are no bounds, no parameters for what you can achieve. I really think it’s about attitude, hard work, and being open to new ideas and new things and to not think that you have to choose something because it seems like that’s the right thing, or that’s the path that makes sense, or that people might think fits you.” – Mrs. Giurlando, Glen Rock High School Principal