Honoring and Celebrating the Women in Our Lives | IWD at CIS

This year, all grade levels from our 2-year-olds in Pre-Kindergarten 2 to High School celebrated International Women's Day. What insights do we bring to our students through this celebration? Read on!

Education has a well-recognized role of enabler for many areas under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG). As part of our leadership initiatives and fulfillment of our motto "Learn Today, Lead Tomorrow", CIS plans monthly activities that help students understand Sustainable Development and contribute to the world. Goal 5 is ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’. It attempts to recognize the “contribution of women and girls around the world, who are leading the charge on climate change adaptation, mitigation, and response, to build a more sustainable future for all”.

Who are your female SHEroes?

Greta Thunberg, a teenager that who positively influence the world on the topic of Climate Change;

Taylor Swift, a humble and highly successful musician and singer;

Serena Williams, a record-breaking tennis player, spokeswoman, fashion designer and philanthropist…

The list is endless. There are so many women who have inspired the world with their talent, diligence and ability to pursue their dreams at any cost.

Our Grade 7 students chose to talk about some of their favorite female role models and quotes they found most inspiring, and shared their ideas with their buddies in Kindergarten.

Ever since its release in 1950, Cinderella has been decried by critics as being as a misleading influence on children (particularly young girls). How has the world changed in the last 72 years? We decided that it was key for our students to find out themselves! Our Elementary and Junior High students gathered in our W Hall (yes, we can fit 600 kids in this massive auditorium!) to watch the modern-day adaptation of Cinderella. This story is about an ambitious young woman whose dreams are bigger than the world will allow. As our students watched, it was very clear that the themes of self-awareness, independence and gender equality shone through, setting a very positive role model to our girls (and boys!).

For our little learners, celebration of Women's Day means more to them when they talk about the women figures in their life: moms, grandmas, ayis, teachers, classmates and friends, who take care of us and inspire us. From decorating cupcakes and making lovely handwritten cards to crafting paper flowers and writing poems, our students found various ways to honor their personal female role models. Learning about women’s rights and celebrating their achievements is the first step towards understanding how women impact our world. We hope by planting the seeds of DEI (Diversity, Equality, Inclusion), we can all achieve a gender equal world.

To all the women in our caring. CIS community, we wish you a Happy International Women’s Day! Thank you for all that you do, have done and will continue to do for all of us.

Our Principal Mr. Rehman gave all our female teachers and staff gifts of chocolates and flowers, to show our thanks and support.