Historic Women
By Emily Moews, AmeriCorps Promise Fellow serving at Minneapolis Public Schools' Check & Connect - Keewaydin
I have been working hard with a student to make sure that she is in class and her normal response to me encouraging her to be in class is, “I don’t like school.” After hearing this a few times and trying a number of interventions, I had a heart-to-heart about how many women have fought for us as women to get an education then she rolled her eyes and walked into class. I wasn’t really sure if she heard me or really understood the significance of this yet but I hoped that it would sink in.
A couple of weeks later, this same student was working on a project for her social studies class and came to my office adamant about how she needed to ask me an important question. “Miss Emily, remember how you told me about how women fought for us to get an education? Who were they?” We went on the website of the National Women’s History Museum and looked up the history of women and education. She left with a smile on her face.
Even though we are still working on attendance, this served as a good reminder for me that young people are listening to me and watching me even when I don’t think that they are. I remember that I have a certain responsibility to a young person (in this case, young girl) to be consistent and to be a good example so we can appreciate those women who fought hard for us to be where we are together.
[From "Voices From the Field: Reflections from Minnesota Alliance With Youth's AmeriCorps Promise Fellows." Fall 2015.]