Women Who Make a Difference

March is Women's History Month and this theme was incorporated into a few Weizmann activities.

Last week we attended the Jewish Federation's Annual Women's Forum event at the Doubletree Hotel where our Woman Who Makes a Difference nominee, Jennifer L., was recognized for her dedication and commitment to our students and their families as our PTO Co-chair.

In the classrooms, students learned about several incredible women, including American inventor Margaret Knight, Swedish author Christina Bjork, and children's author and illustrator Lena Anderson.

Building on the courage of Queen Esther, the heroine of the Purim story, this month our middle school students researched and prepared presentations on Women Who Made a Difference throughout the last part of the 20th century. From a broad list of scientists, inventors, artists, performers, athletes, etc., the individuals below were selected by our students as women of whom they wished to learn more about.  This valuable and interesting information was shared with our elementary students in a "round robin" style circulation in the Art Room where everyone traveled from station to station to hear of and experience the contributions these women made to our society.

One of the most meaningful components of the program was watching the multi-age exchanges; an arm of a big student encircling their younger buddy was a precious sight to see. 

When you see Matthew, Omer, Noah, Nicole, Zoe, Lora, Michael, Ben, Alec, Nathan, Libby, Nelson, Ella, and Karen (Aaron is in Switzerland), ask them about the women they researched.  I am sure they would love to impart their newly acquired knowledge of these remarkable women.  I was impressed and I am sure you will be, too.

~Shabbat Shalom,

Lisa

Sarah Aaronson - Controversial World War I Spy - Matthew

Yael Arad - First Olympic Medalist for Israel - Omer

Rosalind E. Franklin - Helped to Discover DNA - Noah

Goldie Hawn - Actor and Comedian - Nicole

Agnes Keleti - Hungarian Gymnast with Five Gold Medals - Zoe

Estee Lauder - Queen of the American Cosmetics Business - Lora

Lise Meitner - Setting the Stage for the Nuclear Era - Michael

Bette Midler - Actor and Comedian - Ben

Dona Gracia Nasi - Sixteenth Century Crypto-Jew Activist - Alec

Rosalyn S. Yalow - First American Woman to Receive a Nobel Prize in Science - Nathan

Mollie Parnis - Fashion Designer for First Ladies - Libby

Sally Priesand - First Female Rabbi in the United States - Nelson

Judith Resnick - Astronaut - Ella

Barbara Streisand - Actor and Singer - Karen

Hannah Szenes - Paratrooper, Spy, and Poet - Aaron